What an inseparable phrasal verb is
A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a particle, which is an adverb or a preposition, to create a meaning that is often different from the verb alone. Look after means to take care of; get over means to recover from.
A phrasal verb is inseparable when nothing can go between the verb and the particle. If there is an object, it always comes after the whole phrase.
- Correct: I looked after my neighbour’s cat.
- Incorrect: I looked my neighbour’s cat after.
Separable versus inseparable: a quick test
Replace the object with a pronoun such as it, them, or her.
- Separable: the pronoun goes in the middle. She turned down the offer becomes She turned it down.
- Inseparable: the pronoun goes after the particle. She looked after the children becomes She looked after them.
If the pronoun cannot sit between the verb and the particle, the verb is inseparable.
List of common inseparable phrasal verbs
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| look after | take care of | She looks after her grandmother. |
| look for | search for | I am looking for my keys. |
| look into | investigate | The council will look into the complaint. |
| get over | recover from | He got over the flu quickly. |
| get on (with) | have a good relationship | I get on well with my colleagues. |
| run into | meet by chance | I ran into an old friend at the station. |
| come across | find by chance | She came across a letter in the drawer. |
| take after | resemble a relative | He takes after his father. |
| depend on | rely on | The result depends on the weather. |
| deal with | handle | The manager dealt with the problem. |
| call on | visit briefly | We called on our neighbours. |
| count on | rely on | You can count on me. |
| agree with | hold the same opinion | I agree with you. |
| listen to | pay attention to | They listened to the speech. |
| wait for | stay until something happens | We waited for the bus. |
| care for | look after | Nurses care for the patients. |
| believe in | trust the existence or value of | I believe in hard work. |
| break into | enter by force | Someone broke into the shop. |
| go through | experience or examine | She went through a difficult time. |
| stand for | represent | The letters stand for “United Nations”. |
Some of these are sometimes called prepositional verbs, because the second word is a preposition that links the verb to its object. In everyday teaching they are usually grouped with inseparable phrasal verbs, since the same rule applies: the object follows the particle.
Three-part phrasal verbs
Many phrasal verbs with two particles are also inseparable. The object comes at the end.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| look forward to | anticipate with pleasure | I look forward to the weekend. |
| catch up with | reach the same level or position | She ran to catch up with the group. |
| put up with | tolerate | I cannot put up with the noise. |
| get along with | have a good relationship | He gets along with everyone. |
| run out of | use all of something | We have run out of milk. |
| come up with | think of | They came up with a clever plan. |
| keep up with | stay at the same pace | It is hard to keep up with the news. |
| get away with | avoid punishment | He got away with it this time. |
Look forward to needs particular care: the to is a preposition, so a verb that follows should end in -ing. I look forward to seeing you.
Intransitive phrasal verbs
Some phrasal verbs have no object at all, so there is nothing to separate. These are intransitive phrasal verbs.
- The plane took off at noon.
- Please sit down.
- The car broke down on the motorway.
- They grew up in a small town.
- She woke up late.
Because there is no object, the question of separating does not arise. These verbs are not usually treated as inseparable in the same way, but they are useful to know beside the list above.
Is “give up” separable or inseparable?
Give up is separable when it has an object: She gave up smoking, or She gave it up. Notice that the pronoun it goes in the middle. It can also be used with no object: I give up! So give up does not belong on a list of inseparable phrasal verbs.
Common mistakes
Spot these in context with our sentence correction exercises.
- Splitting an inseparable verb. Say I am looking for my phone, not I am looking my phone for.
- Forgetting the pronoun position. Say I ran into her, not I ran her into.
- Using the wrong verb form after look forward to. Use -ing: looking forward to hearing from you.
- Assuming a verb is separable because a similar one is. Look up a word is separable (look it up), but look after a child is not.
Tips for learning them
- Learn each phrasal verb in a full sentence, not as an isolated pair of words.
- Group them by the base verb (look after, look for, look into) and note which are separable.
- Check a dictionary, which usually shows whether an object can go in the middle.
- Notice phrasal verbs that overlap with idioms, such as put up with and deal with, which appear in idioms about problems.
- Read and listen widely, and note the phrasal verbs you come across.
Frequently asked questions
Can you provide some examples of phrasal verbs with sentences? Yes. The tables above give sentences for each verb, such as She looks after her grandmother and I ran into an old friend.
What are examples of transitive and intransitive verbs? A transitive verb takes an object (She looks after the children). An intransitive verb does not (The plane took off).
Is give up separable or inseparable? It is separable: give it up.
Can you give me some examples of inseparable phrasal verbs? Look after, get over, run into, depend on, and come across are all inseparable.