fill out

Separable

The 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 OUT. Saying “FILL out” 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 out” is said “fi-lout”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.

What it means

To complete a form or document by writing in the required information.
- “It took me hours to fill out all the paperwork for my visa.”
- “Fill this out and bring it back to the desk.”
Similar: complete, fill in

Don’t confuse it with

fill inTo write information in a blank space.

In American English, fill OUT is the whole document; fill IN is one blank, or informing a person. British English prefers fill IN for both.

The particle logic

out

Something exits a container, becomes visible, or is exhausted.

Listen + practice

Hear “fill out” spoken naturally

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More FILL phrasal verbs

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