pick out
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: pick OUT. Saying “PICK out” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /k/ of “pick” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “pick out” is said “pi-ckout”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
2 meanings
- 1
To choose one thing from a group.
- “She picked out a card and handed it to him.”
- “Help me pick out a gift for my mother.”
Similar: select, choose
- 2
To distinguish something visually against a background.
- “I could just pick out his face in the crowd.”
Similar: make out, spot