take 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: take OUT. Saying “TAKE out” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /k/ of “take” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “take out” is said “ta-kout”. 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 take OUT, the noun is TAKEOUT. Same two words, different beat — “to take OUT” is the action, “a takeout” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.
3 meanings
- 1
To remove something from inside a place or container.
- “The dentist took out two teeth.”
- “Take the rubbish out before you go.”
Similar: remove, extract
- 2
To buy food from a restaurant to eat elsewhere.
- “We ordered Thai to take out.”
- 3
To arrange a loan or an insurance policy.
- “They took out a mortgage on the second property.”
Similar: arrange