Phrasal verbs with PUT

Phrasal Verbs are verbs which are made up of two words:

verb + particle

(A particle is either an adverb or preposition.)

Example: put on

Jane is putting on the light.
subject + verb + particle + object

(This means that Jane is “starting” the light by pressing the button.)

It is also possible to have a different order of words as follows:

Jane is putting the light on.
subject + verb + object + particle

Separable and non separable phrasal verbs

We say that “put on” is a separable phrasal verb because it is possible to separate the particle from the verb (with the object in the middle).

Certain phrasal verbs are non-separable because we cannot separate the particle from the verb. An example of a non-separable phrasal verb is “count on someone“:

Mark is a good friend. I know that I can count on him.
Mark is a good friend. I know that I can count him on.

If we can count on someone, it means that we can depend on them. We can rely on them.

The meaning of phrasal verbs is often very different to the meaning of the verb by itself. They are often expressions or idioms. Example the meaning of “count on someone” is very different to “count”!

Phrasal verbs are very common in English, particularly in informal situations. That is why they are so important.

In the rest of this lesson, you will learn several common phrasal verbs with put:

put on (clothing)

put on an item of clothing
or
put an item of clothing on

=the action of placing an item of clothing on the body. To get dressed.

He’s putting on a coat.
He’s putting a coat on.

Put on your shoes before going outside!
Put your shoes on before going outside!

put on (light or device)

put on a light
put a light on

put on a device
put a device on

= to “start” a light or electrical device (often by pressing a button)

It’s dark in here. Please put on the light.
It’s dark in here. Please put the light on.

He put on the television and watched a film.
He put the television on and watched a film.

I always put on the radio while driving.
I always put the radio on while driving.

put on weight

put on weight
put weight on

= to become fatter
= to become heavier

Jane put on weight after her divorce.

Mark always puts weight on during Christmas.

put off an event

put off an event
put an event off

=to organise an event for a later date or time
=to postpone an event.

Jane is ill so we have put off her birthday party until next week.

We’re not ready. Let’s put the wedding off until July.

put out a fire

put out a fire
put a fire out

= to stop a fire
= to extinguish a fire

The firefighters are putting out the fire.

The firefighters are putting the fire out.

put up someone

put up someone
put someone up

= to allow someone to stay in your home. To accommodate someone.

Mark: “I’m coming to London next week. Could you put me up for a few days?”
David: “Yes of course.”

put up with something / someone

put up with something / someone

= to accept something (or someone) bad without complaining. We don’t like something or someone but we don’t really have much choice so we decide to accept the situation or person without complaining. We often do this to keep the peace.

Mark hates his job but he puts up with it.

Jane’s brother isn’t very kind but she puts up with him.

Notice that this phrasal verb has 2 particles. This is always non-separable.

English phrasal verbs with PUT – YouTube lesson

Watch this English class on our Youtube channel to listen to the correct pronunciation. Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel also!