fill in
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: fill IN. Saying “FILL in” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /l/ of “fill” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “fill in” is said “fi-lin”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
2 meanings
- 1
To write information in a blank space.
- “Fill in your name and date of birth at the top.”
Similar: complete
- 2
To give someone the information they missed.
- “Can you fill me in on what happened at the meeting?”
Similar: brief, update