An intransitive phrasal verb doesn’t require any direct object to complete its meaning. Here are a few examples of intransitive verbs:
- He slept.
- She laughed.
- They danced.
On the other hand, A transitive phrasal verb requires an object to complete its meaning. For example, in the sentence “She turned off the TV”, the transitive phrasal verb is “turned off” and the object is “the TV”.
Some transitive phrasal verbs can have the object between the verb and the particle, or after the particle. For example, “She turned the TV off” is also correct.
However, some transitive phrasal verbs can only have the object after the particle, especially when the object is a pronoun. For example, “He explained the problem to me” is correct, but “He explained me the problem” is not.
Lastly, when we replace the object with a pronoun, we must place the pronoun between the verb and the particle.
- You need to put it on. (❌ put on it.)
- I took them off. (❌ put off them.)
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