pass 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: pass UP. Saying “PASS up” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /s/ of “pass” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “pass up” is said “pa-sup”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
What it means
To decline an opportunity.
- “You'd be mad to pass up an offer like that.”
- “He passed it up and regretted it for years.”
Similar: decline, forgo