Phrasal verbs vs.

prepositional verbs: position of the object

Structure of phrasal verbs:

a verb + adverb throw away, take off
a verb + adverb + preposition put up with
Structure of prepositional verbs:
look after, look at, wait for, think about, talk
a verb + preposition
about, complain about

Position of the object of a phrasal verb:

With a phrasal verb (verb + adverb), the position of the object (a noun) is flexible, i.e. it can sit
either between the verb and the adverb or after the adverb:

 She took her coat off. (The object her coat is between the verb and the adverb.)

or

 She took off her coat. (The object her coat is after the adverb.)

Be careful !

When the object is a pronoun (him, her, us, them, etc.), it must sit between the verb and the
adverb:

 She took it off. took off it

Position of the object of a prepositional verb:

With prepositional verbs (verb + preposition), the position of the object—regardless of

whether it’s a noun or pronoun—is not flexible. The object must sit after the preposition:

 We looked after the children. looked the children after

 We looked after them. looked them after

Summary

Phrasal verbs: the object can sit before or after the particle (but not when the object is a
pronoun).

Prepositional verbs: the object always comes directly after the preposition.

See also: Vocabulary section: Phrasal verbs