tell apart
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: tell APART. Saying “TELL apart” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /l/ of “tell” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “tell apart” is said “te-lapart”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
What it means
To distinguish between two similar things.
- “I still can't tell the twins apart.”
- “The two versions are almost impossible to tell apart.”
Similar: distinguish, differentiate