Sentence structure: Phrasal verbs: pick up, look after

A phrasal verb is a verb + a small particle (up, out, on, after…). Together they have a new meaning: give up = stop trying.

Bring the pieces together

In this chapter

The meaning is more than the parts
look + after doesn't mean “look later”: look after = take care of. That's why we learn a phrasal verb as one word.
Four cases
No object: The plane took off. · Separable + noun: Pick up your toys. / Pick your toys up. · Separable + pronoun: Pick them up. · Inseparable: I look after my little brother.
Separable
Example: Please turn off the lights.
Example: Please turn the lights off.
Inseparable
Example: I look after my little brother.
Example: We ran into our teacher at the mall.
Common ones
Example: get up
Example: give up
Tip
In a dictionary, sth shows where the object can go: pick sth up → separable; look after sth → inseparable.

Position 4 of 8 chapters at B2.