call out
SeparableThe object can go before or after the particle — but a pronoun MUST go in the middle: “clean it up”, never “clean up it”.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: call OUT. Saying “CALL out” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /l/ of “call” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “call out” is said “ca-lout”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
2 meanings
- 1
To shout in order to attract attention.
- “She called out his name across the parking lot.”
Similar: shout, yell
- 2
To publicly criticize someone's behaviour.
informal- “He was called out for taking credit for the team's work.”
- “Somebody needs to call them out on it.”
Similar: denounce