AAAmerican Accent US

run away

No object

This verb takes no object at all.

How to say it

Stress the particle, not the verb: run AWAY. Saying “RUN away” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.

Link across the gap. The final /n/ of “run” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “run away” is said “ru-naway”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.

Verb vs noun

As a noun the stress flips to the front: the verb is run AWAY, the noun is RUNAWAY. Same two words, different beat — “to run AWAY” is the action, “a runaway” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.

What it means

  1. To escape from a place, especially home.

    • “He ran away at sixteen and came back at twenty.”
    • “You can't run away from this forever.”

    Similar: flee, escape

The particle logic

away

Something moves off, vanishes, or keeps going steadily.

Listen + practice

Hear “run away” 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 RUN phrasal verbs

Compare the whole family →

run into

To meet someone unexpectedly.

run out of

To use up the entire supply of something.

run over

To hit someone or something with a vehicle.

run through

To rehearse or review something from beginning to end.

run by

To tell someone an idea in order to get their reaction.

run up

To accumulate a large bill or debt.

run down

To criticize someone or something unfairly.

run away — meaning, examples & how to say it