Phrasal Verbs

Unit 34
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Stress in Two- and Three-Word Phrasal Verbs,
Part 2
As we saw in 
Units 5
 and 
6
, sometimes the verb in phrasal verbs is stressed and sometimes
the particle is stressed. It might seem difficult to know whether to stress the verb or the
particle, since it depends on whether the phrasal verb is separable or inseparable, and
transitive or intransitive; however, it boils down to this: always stress the word after the verb
unless the phrasal verb is inseparable and transitive—then stress the verb.
Stress on the particle
Separable (and always transitive) phrasal verbs
In separable phrasal verbs (which are always transitive), the particle is stressed regardless of
the position of the object:
If you don’t take BACK what you said, I’ll never speak to you again.
If you don’t take what you said BACK, I’ll never speak to you again.
If you don’t take that BACK, I’ll never speak to you again.
I made a mistake, and I had to do my report Over.
I made a mistake, and I had to do it Over. (Some phrasal verbs are always
separated. Also, remember that only one syllable is stressed when a particle
has more than one syllable.)
The terrorist blew UP the building.
The terrorist blew the building UP.
The terrorist blew it UP.
Intransitive phrasal verbs
In intransitive phrasal verbs, the particle is also stressed:
That old house is falling aPART.
The police are cracking DOWN on crime. (Some intransitive phrasal verbs can
be made transitive with the addition of a preposition.)
The building blew UP. (Remember that some phrasal verbs are both transitive
and intransitive.)