AAAmerican Accent US

run by

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: run BY. Saying “RUN by” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.

No pause between the words. /n/ runs straight into /b/ — “run by” is one rhythmic unit with a single stressed beat on the particle.

What it means

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

    • “Run it by me one more time.”
    • “I'd like to run this by legal before we send it.”

    Similar: check with

The particle logic

by

Movement past something, without stopping or with nothing to spare.

Listen + practice

Hear “run by” 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 away

To escape from a place, especially home.

run through

To rehearse or review something from beginning to end.

run up

To accumulate a large bill or debt.

run down

To criticize someone or something unfairly.

run by — meaning, examples & how to say it