call up
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 UP. Saying “CALL up” 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 up” is said “ca-lup”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
What it means
To telephone someone.
informal- “Call me up when you land.”
- “He called up his old boss to ask for a reference.”
Similar: phone, ring