AAAmerican Accent US

come apart

No object

This verb takes no object at all.

How to say it

Stress the particle, not the verb: come APART. Saying “COME apart” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.

Link across the gap. The final /m/ of “come” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “come apart” is said “co-mapart”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.

What it means

  1. To fall into pieces.

    • “The old book came apart in my hands.”
    • “The whole plan came apart within a week.”

    Similar: fall apart, disintegrate

The particle logic

apart

A whole becomes separate parts.

Listen + practice

Hear “come apart” spoken naturally

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Read the sentence aloud. Keep the stress on the particle and run the two words together — we’ll score every sound and flag what to work on.

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More COME phrasal verbs

Compare the whole family →

come across

To find or meet something by chance.

come up with

To produce or invent an idea or solution.

come up

(Of a topic or problem) to arise.

come back

To return to a place.

come down with

To start to have an illness, usually a minor one.

come over

To visit someone's home.

come out

To become known or be published.

come in

To enter a place.

come along

To accompany someone.

come around

To change your mind and accept something.

come off

To become detached.

come between

To damage the relationship between two people.

come apart — meaning, examples & how to say it