English grammar - Roger Berry 2012

B7.3 Phrasal verbs with a pronoun as object
B7 Multi-word verbs
Section B Development

There is one more restriction on phrasal verbs that we need to consider.

Activity B7.3

Look at the four sentences below with the phrasal verb hand in. Which is wrong?

1. The students have handed their essay in.

2. The students have handed in their essay.

3. The students have handed it in.

4. The students have handed in it.

When the object is a personal pronoun particle movement is obligatory. This is a reflection of the fact that English does not like definite pronouns (such as it) at the end of sentences if there is an alternative (see A11). There is also an opposite tendency when the object is a long noun phrase; the particle tends not to move:

I finally handed in the essay that the lecturer had given me extra time for.

Not ’I finally handed the essay that the lecturer had given me extra time for in.’

Activity B7.4

Are these sentences correct or incorrect? Can you explain why?

1. They turned on us.

2. They turned us on.