Grammar · Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal Verbs With Get, Take, Look, Go & Put
Get up, take over, look into, go after, put off: five small verbs that do a lot of work. Learn what they mean, and where the object goes, with the film Johnny English.
Grammar › Phrasal Verbs › Phrasal Verbs With Get, Take, Look, Go & Put
The rule in one sentenceGet, take, look, go and put join small words like up, off or into to make new verbs with new meanings; with some, the object can go in the middle (put it off), but with others the two words always stay together (look into it).
About the film
Johnny English is a British comedy from 2003. Johnny is a clumsy office worker at the British secret service who dreams of being a real spy. Suddenly he has to take over as Britain’s top agent, and he must look into a very big crime: someone has stolen the Crown Jewels. With his calm assistant Bough, he decides to go after a rich Frenchman called Pascal Sauvage.
What does it do?
A phrasal verb is a normal verb plus a small word like up, off, on, after or into. Together, the two words often mean something new. You cannot always guess the meaning from the parts: take over means “get control of something”, and go after means “chase”.
There is also a question of word order. With some phrasal verbs, you can put the object in the middle, and with a word like it or him, you must. With others, the two words never separate. In this lesson, amber verbs can split, and blue verbs always stay together.
Look at tiles one and three. You can say “put his glasses on” or “put on his glasses”. But with the blue verbs, you can only say “look into the theft”, never “look the theft into”.
Johnny puts the special pen away in his pocket. Then he looks after it very carefully.
The amber verb can open like a sandwich, with the object in the middle. The blue verb is closed: the object always comes after the whole verb.
Visual guide
Teacher Teddy’s illustrated guide to this rule is being drawn — the full swipe-through infographic will appear here soon.
How to make it
Verbs that can split — put off, take over
The boss puts off the meeting. / The boss puts the meeting off.
Johnny doesn’t take his jacket off.
With a word like it or him, you must split: take it off.Will Sauvage take the country over?
Verbs that stay together — look into, go after
Johnny looks into the robbery.
I don’t get over colds very quickly.
The object never goes in the middle.Who is Johnny going after?
In questions, the particle stays next to the verb.When to use each one
Can split — useful meanings
Stay together — useful meanings
Words that help: what does the small word add?
The small word often gives a clue to the meaning. It is not a rule, but it helps you guess.
up / off / on / over → you often hear
into / after / with → you often hear
Common mistakes
❌ Johnny looks the crime into.
✅ Johnny looks into the crime.
Look into never splits. The object goes after the whole verb.
❌ The boss has a problem, so he puts off it.
✅ The boss has a problem, so he puts it off.
With it, him or them, put the small word at the end.
❌ My sister takes off our mum. They look the same.
✅ My sister takes after our mum. They look the same.
Take after means “is similar to”. Take off means “remove”.
❌ Johnny is looking for his first big mission.
✅ Johnny is looking forward to his first big mission.
Look for means search. Look forward to means feel excited about the future.
One more thing
This part is a little harder. You can come back to it later.
One phrasal verb, two meanings. Some phrasal verbs change their meaning, and sometimes their word order, depending on the situation. “Take off” can mean “remove a piece of clothing”, and then it can split; but it can also mean “leave the ground” or “suddenly become successful”, and then there is no object at all.
✅ Johnny takes his hat off. (remove — can split)
✅ The plane takes off at nine. (leave the ground — no object)
Practice: choose the right phrasal verb
Eight questions. Choose the answer that sounds right. You get the answer, and why.
1. Johnny has to ___ the theft of the Crown Jewels.
Look into means investigate.
2. Sauvage wants to ___ the country.
Take over means get control of something.
3. The meeting is at a bad time. Can we ___?
With it, split the verb → put it off.
4. Johnny and Bough ___ the thieves in a car.
Go after means chase.
5. Johnny always ___ early on a working day.
Get up means get out of bed.
6. I lost my phone. Can you help me ___ it?
Look for means search for something you lost.
7. Bough is patient. He ___ a lot of silly mistakes.
Put up with means accept something bad without complaining.
8. Johnny ___ his dark glasses, and then he goes outside.
Put on means start wearing something.
Your turn
Choose one ending. Then listen to your sentence.
Every sentence here is correct. Pick the one that is true for you. Say it out loud too!
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