turn over
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: turn OVER. Saying “TURN over” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /n/ of “turn” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “turn over” is said “tur-nover”. 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 turn OVER, the noun is TURNOVER. Same two words, different beat — “to turn OVER” is the action, “a turnover” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.
2 meanings
- 1
To flip something so the other side is up.
- “Turn the page over.”
- “He turned over and went back to sleep.”
Similar: flip, invert
- 2
To hand someone or something to the authorities.
- “They turned the footage over to the police.”
Similar: hand over, surrender