“Pick up something” or “pick something up”?
I have difficulties with word order:
- I have picked up the pencil from the floor. [says my dictionary]
?I have picked the pencil up from the floor. [could be?]
- ?I will pick up it. [sounds weird]
I will pick it up. [sounds right to me]
grammaticality word-order phrasal-verbs
edited Apr 19 '12 at 9:09
RegDwigнt♦
83.5k31281382
asked Apr 19 '12 at 9:07
PietroPietro
649123149
add a comment |
I have difficulties with word order:
- I have picked up the pencil from the floor. [says my dictionary]
?I have picked the pencil up from the floor. [could be?]
- ?I will pick up it. [sounds weird]
I will pick it up. [sounds right to me]
grammaticality word-order phrasal-verbs
edited Apr 19 '12 at 9:09
RegDwigнt♦
83.5k31281382
asked Apr 19 '12 at 9:07
PietroPietro
649123149
add a comment |
I have difficulties with word order:
- I have picked up the pencil from the floor. [says my dictionary]
?I have picked the pencil up from the floor. [could be?]
- ?I will pick up it. [sounds weird]
I will pick it up. [sounds right to me]
grammaticality word-order phrasal-verbs
edited Apr 19 '12 at 9:09
RegDwigнt♦
83.5k31281382
asked Apr 19 '12 at 9:07
PietroPietro
649123149
I have difficulties with word order:
- I have picked up the pencil from the floor. [says my dictionary]
?I have picked the pencil up from the floor. [could be?]
- ?I will pick up it. [sounds weird]
I will pick it up. [sounds right to me]
grammaticality word-order phrasal-verbs
grammaticality word-order phrasal-verbs
edited Apr 19 '12 at 9:09
RegDwigнt♦
83.5k31281382
asked Apr 19 '12 at 9:07
PietroPietro
649123149
edited Apr 19 '12 at 9:09
RegDwigнt♦
83.5k31281382
asked Apr 19 '12 at 9:07
PietroPietro
649123149
edited Apr 19 '12 at 9:09
RegDwigнt♦
83.5k31281382
edited Apr 19 '12 at 9:09
RegDwigнt♦
83.5k31281382
edited Apr 19 '12 at 9:09
RegDwigнt♦
83.5k31281382
83.5k31281382
asked Apr 19 '12 at 9:07
PietroPietro
649123149
asked Apr 19 '12 at 9:07
PietroPietro
649123149
asked Apr 19 '12 at 9:07
PietroPietro
649123149
649123149
add a comment |
add a comment |
3 Answers
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This from the ‘Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English’:
Where the direct object is a pronoun (1), it is usually placed between the
verb and the particle (over 90 per cent of the time) . . . However,
when the direct object is an indefinite pronoun (2), it is often placed
after the adverbial particle . . . When the direct object is a full
noun (3), there is more variation in its placement.
For Example:
- Pick it up.
- Pick up something.
- Pick the pencil up. Pick up the pencil.
edited May 19 '16 at 17:00
Jesse Elliott
32
answered Apr 19 '12 at 9:14
Barrie EnglandBarrie England
129k10205354
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Your first, second, and fourth examples are all good and resemble sentences people say all the time.
Number three, "I will pick up it", definitely sounds strange to me, though I really can't say why. If you replaced "it" with something specific, like, "I will pick up the pencil", it would be considered perfectly normal.
answered Apr 19 '12 at 14:49
JayJay
31.6k34691
add a comment |
If "something" is short, you may use either one. But if it is long, put the "up" just after the "pick".
Pick up from the floor all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks.
more easily understood than
Pick all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks up from the floor.
answered Mar 21 at 19:40
GEdgarGEdgar
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
This from the ‘Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English’:
Where the direct object is a pronoun (1), it is usually placed between the
verb and the particle (over 90 per cent of the time) . . . However,
when the direct object is an indefinite pronoun (2), it is often placed
after the adverbial particle . . . When the direct object is a full
noun (3), there is more variation in its placement.
For Example:
- Pick it up.
- Pick up something.
- Pick the pencil up. Pick up the pencil.
edited May 19 '16 at 17:00
Jesse Elliott
32
answered Apr 19 '12 at 9:14
Barrie EnglandBarrie England
129k10205354
add a comment |
This from the ‘Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English’:
Where the direct object is a pronoun (1), it is usually placed between the
verb and the particle (over 90 per cent of the time) . . . However,
when the direct object is an indefinite pronoun (2), it is often placed
after the adverbial particle . . . When the direct object is a full
noun (3), there is more variation in its placement.
For Example:
- Pick it up.
- Pick up something.
- Pick the pencil up. Pick up the pencil.
edited May 19 '16 at 17:00
Jesse Elliott
32
answered Apr 19 '12 at 9:14
Barrie EnglandBarrie England
129k10205354
add a comment |
This from the ‘Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English’:
Where the direct object is a pronoun (1), it is usually placed between the
verb and the particle (over 90 per cent of the time) . . . However,
when the direct object is an indefinite pronoun (2), it is often placed
after the adverbial particle . . . When the direct object is a full
noun (3), there is more variation in its placement.
For Example:
- Pick it up.
- Pick up something.
- Pick the pencil up. Pick up the pencil.
edited May 19 '16 at 17:00
Jesse Elliott
32
answered Apr 19 '12 at 9:14
Barrie EnglandBarrie England
129k10205354
This from the ‘Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English’:
Where the direct object is a pronoun (1), it is usually placed between the
verb and the particle (over 90 per cent of the time) . . . However,
when the direct object is an indefinite pronoun (2), it is often placed
after the adverbial particle . . . When the direct object is a full
noun (3), there is more variation in its placement.
For Example:
- Pick it up.
- Pick up something.
- Pick the pencil up. Pick up the pencil.
edited May 19 '16 at 17:00
Jesse Elliott
32
answered Apr 19 '12 at 9:14
Barrie EnglandBarrie England
129k10205354
edited May 19 '16 at 17:00
Jesse Elliott
32
edited May 19 '16 at 17:00
Jesse Elliott
32
edited May 19 '16 at 17:00
Jesse Elliott
32
32
answered Apr 19 '12 at 9:14
Barrie EnglandBarrie England
129k10205354
answered Apr 19 '12 at 9:14
Barrie EnglandBarrie England
129k10205354
answered Apr 19 '12 at 9:14
Barrie EnglandBarrie England
129k10205354
129k10205354
add a comment |
add a comment |
Your first, second, and fourth examples are all good and resemble sentences people say all the time.
Number three, "I will pick up it", definitely sounds strange to me, though I really can't say why. If you replaced "it" with something specific, like, "I will pick up the pencil", it would be considered perfectly normal.
answered Apr 19 '12 at 14:49
JayJay
31.6k34691
add a comment |
Your first, second, and fourth examples are all good and resemble sentences people say all the time.
Number three, "I will pick up it", definitely sounds strange to me, though I really can't say why. If you replaced "it" with something specific, like, "I will pick up the pencil", it would be considered perfectly normal.
answered Apr 19 '12 at 14:49
JayJay
31.6k34691
add a comment |
Your first, second, and fourth examples are all good and resemble sentences people say all the time.
Number three, "I will pick up it", definitely sounds strange to me, though I really can't say why. If you replaced "it" with something specific, like, "I will pick up the pencil", it would be considered perfectly normal.
answered Apr 19 '12 at 14:49
JayJay
31.6k34691
Your first, second, and fourth examples are all good and resemble sentences people say all the time.
Number three, "I will pick up it", definitely sounds strange to me, though I really can't say why. If you replaced "it" with something specific, like, "I will pick up the pencil", it would be considered perfectly normal.
answered Apr 19 '12 at 14:49
JayJay
31.6k34691
answered Apr 19 '12 at 14:49
JayJay
31.6k34691
answered Apr 19 '12 at 14:49
JayJay
31.6k34691
answered Apr 19 '12 at 14:49
JayJay
31.6k34691
31.6k34691
add a comment |
add a comment |
If "something" is short, you may use either one. But if it is long, put the "up" just after the "pick".
Pick up from the floor all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks.
more easily understood than
Pick all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks up from the floor.
answered Mar 21 at 19:40
GEdgarGEdgar
13.8k22045
add a comment |
If "something" is short, you may use either one. But if it is long, put the "up" just after the "pick".
Pick up from the floor all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks.
more easily understood than
Pick all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks up from the floor.
answered Mar 21 at 19:40
GEdgarGEdgar
13.8k22045
add a comment |
If "something" is short, you may use either one. But if it is long, put the "up" just after the "pick".
Pick up from the floor all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks.
more easily understood than
Pick all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks up from the floor.
answered Mar 21 at 19:40
GEdgarGEdgar
13.8k22045
If "something" is short, you may use either one. But if it is long, put the "up" just after the "pick".
Pick up from the floor all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks.
more easily understood than
Pick all the pencils, books, dolls, and blocks up from the floor.
answered Mar 21 at 19:40
GEdgarGEdgar
13.8k22045
answered Mar 21 at 19:40
GEdgarGEdgar
13.8k22045
answered Mar 21 at 19:40
GEdgarGEdgar
13.8k22045
answered Mar 21 at 19:40
GEdgarGEdgar
13.8k22045
13.8k22045
add a comment |
add a comment |
protected by Community♦ Mar 22 at 2:11
Thank you for your interest in this question.
Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?
