The difference between transitive and intransitive verbs is that transitive verbs take objects (direct and/or indirect), whereas intransitive verbs will not accept them.
This difference applies also to phrasal verbs (multi-word verbs that consist of a verb plus an adverbial particle).
1. Transitive phrasal verbs:
- They take an pbject.
- The particle may precede or follow the direct object:
"They turned on the lights" or "They turned the lights on"
- However, when the object is a pronoun, the particle cannot precede it:
"They turned them on" is correct. (them = the lights)
"They turned on them" is incorrect.
2. Intransitive phrasal verbs:
- They do not take an object.
- The adverbial particle cannot be separated from the verb:
"Get up at once!"
"The plane took off."
This is a very brief explanation, but I hope it helps.
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your welcome dear Anele.