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Put the phone down / Put down the phone


What's the difference between fork out/over/up?“Help you” vs “help you out”Meaning of 'to break down the barriers'Why should I write “she asked me to not phone” instead of the usual “she asked me not to phone”“He was tearing the curtain” x “He was tearing off the curtain”learning phrasal verbsWhat's the difference between “hunt” and “hunt down”?Shut Down - exact meaningWhat does “head on back” mean?meaning of the phrasal verb “wind down” in context













10















what's the difference between "Put the phone down" and "Put down the phone"?
Is it the same?
As for me the first one means literally to put the phone (the thing) down and the last one is to end the conversation, am I right?






word-order phrasal-verbs







share|improve this question



















  • 6





    Although "put the phone down" and "put down the phone" are (at least mostly) equivalent, do note that you can say "put it down", but not "*put down it".

    – psmears
    2 days ago











  • @psmears Correct! Because "it" is a pronoun, and "the phone" is a noun phrase.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis: Yes, and specifically because "put down" is a separable phrasal verb.

    – psmears
    yesterday















10















what's the difference between "Put the phone down" and "Put down the phone"?
Is it the same?
As for me the first one means literally to put the phone (the thing) down and the last one is to end the conversation, am I right?






word-order phrasal-verbs







share|improve this question



















  • 6





    Although "put the phone down" and "put down the phone" are (at least mostly) equivalent, do note that you can say "put it down", but not "*put down it".

    – psmears
    2 days ago











  • @psmears Correct! Because "it" is a pronoun, and "the phone" is a noun phrase.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis: Yes, and specifically because "put down" is a separable phrasal verb.

    – psmears
    yesterday













10












10








10


1






what's the difference between "Put the phone down" and "Put down the phone"?
Is it the same?
As for me the first one means literally to put the phone (the thing) down and the last one is to end the conversation, am I right?






word-order phrasal-verbs







share|improve this question
















what's the difference between "Put the phone down" and "Put down the phone"?
Is it the same?
As for me the first one means literally to put the phone (the thing) down and the last one is to end the conversation, am I right?






word-order phrasal-verbs




word-order phrasal-verbs






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 2 days ago









Jasper

19k43771




19k43771










asked 2 days ago









Taras KryvkoTaras Kryvko

315110




315110







  • 6





    Although "put the phone down" and "put down the phone" are (at least mostly) equivalent, do note that you can say "put it down", but not "*put down it".

    – psmears
    2 days ago











  • @psmears Correct! Because "it" is a pronoun, and "the phone" is a noun phrase.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis: Yes, and specifically because "put down" is a separable phrasal verb.

    – psmears
    yesterday












  • 6





    Although "put the phone down" and "put down the phone" are (at least mostly) equivalent, do note that you can say "put it down", but not "*put down it".

    – psmears
    2 days ago











  • @psmears Correct! Because "it" is a pronoun, and "the phone" is a noun phrase.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis: Yes, and specifically because "put down" is a separable phrasal verb.

    – psmears
    yesterday







6




6





Although "put the phone down" and "put down the phone" are (at least mostly) equivalent, do note that you can say "put it down", but not "*put down it".

– psmears
2 days ago





Although "put the phone down" and "put down the phone" are (at least mostly) equivalent, do note that you can say "put it down", but not "*put down it".

– psmears
2 days ago













@psmears Correct! Because "it" is a pronoun, and "the phone" is a noun phrase.

– CJ Dennis
yesterday





@psmears Correct! Because "it" is a pronoun, and "the phone" is a noun phrase.

– CJ Dennis
yesterday













@CJDennis: Yes, and specifically because "put down" is a separable phrasal verb.

– psmears
yesterday





@CJDennis: Yes, and specifically because "put down" is a separable phrasal verb.

– psmears
yesterday










6 Answers
6






active

oldest

votes


















16














They both mean the same thing. You can say "Put down the [something]" or "Put the [something] down". Using old fashioned, wired, phones, you terminate a call by replacing the receiver in its cradle ("putting it down"). On a modern mobile or cordless phone, you have to to press a button or touch a place on the screen. For either of these actions, people can say they "put down", or even "hang up" the phone.






share|improve this answer




















  • 3





    It's an edge case, but just to mention that one should be careful if the [something] is an animal - depending on contract of course, saying "Please put the dog down" can have very different meanings :P

    – BruceWayne
    2 days ago







  • 3





    @BruceWayne I don't see how that's relevant.

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago






  • 4





    Brucewayne - In the 1980s, the British government introduced a new tax, the "Poll tax". Each household had to complete a form listing all residents. Some people were confused about who should be included. The Daily Mail newspaper caused unintended amusement with an article headed "What to do about Granny? Put her down.".

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago







  • 2





    @MichaelHarvey Given the Mail's reputation, I doubt the pun was an accident.

    – chrylis
    2 days ago












  • British headline writers, from the Sun to the Telegraph, if they have to mention a bishop, take every opportunity to use the word 'bash' in the same breath.

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago


















12














The actual meaning is the same, but in normal conversation I would be more likely to say "put the phone down", but if I lost patience with you because you are not listening this would turn to "Put Down The Phone".






share|improve this answer


















  • 4





    yes in my head I hear "put down the phone" in a very stern voice with lots of !!!

    – WendyG
    2 days ago


















4














I don't think there's any difference between the two phrases. Perhaps some people think they're different but, if you want to communicate clearly, you shouldn't rely on people picking up such subtle differences.






share|improve this answer

























  • "down" isn't a preposition, so "put the phone down" doesn't violate that rule.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Fair point. It is a preposition in some situations ("He fell down the well") but it's considered adverbial in "put down". I'll delete that part of my answer. (Though I could double down (er, adverb again?) and claim that people might mistakenly criticize ending a sentence with a preposition, citing myself as evidence. ;-) )

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago







  • 1





    Fair enough. They mistakenly think it's X, and also mistakenly think you shouldn't X.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Exactly! These strawmen are wrong!

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago



















2














They mean the same thing, but there can be differences of emphasis. In general, the phrase with more significance often comes back, so "Put the phone down" emphasizes draws attention to the phone, while "Put down the phone" emphasizes the action of putting it down.



For instance, if someone is holding two things, you might say "Put the phone down" to make it clear that you're just talking about putting that one thing down.



However, this is a very slight nuance, and when speaking you can use tone of voice to override it. "Put the phone down" emphasizes "down" by saying it more forcefully.






share|improve this answer























  • "Put down the phone" emphasises "down" equally forcefully.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis I was just trying to show an exmple where the tone results in the opposite emphasis from the order. Of course, you can also use tone to reinforce the emphasis.

    – Barmar
    yesterday


















0














The difference between the two sentence variations amounts to a principle of grammatical best practice that urges a speaker never to split a verb and its auxiliary preposition unnecessarily.



  • "Put down the knife!" not "Put the knife down!"

  • "The student looked up the definition" not "The student looked the definition up."

However, recognizing when not to split up a prepositional phrase requires a certain fluency in English rather than a hard-and-fast rule.



  • "Could you please switch it off?" not "Could you please switch off it?"





share|improve this answer








New contributor




ThomasPepperz is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • "Grammatical best practice" = prescriptivism. As a fluent native speaker, I can say that all your examples are correct and acceptable except for "Could you please switch off it?" as you have already noted. The reason for the last is that "it" is a pronoun, whereas your other examples use nouns as the direct object. It's a very common form in English: "[verb] [preposition] [noun phrase]", "[verb] [noun phrase] [preposition]", or "[verb] [pronoun] [preposition]", but not "[verb] [preposition] [pronoun]".

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • As pointed out in a comment on a different answer, "down" is not a preposition here; it's an adverb. What I said above applies to adverbs as well as prepositions.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • About the last example, which apparently breaks the rule, being not a native English speaker indeed, I (actually not really so) humbly propose an interpretation: that when an adverb looks like a preposition, it is better postponed, than interposed, exactly in order to avoid the possible misunderstanding. Could that be an explanation?

    – lurix66
    yesterday


















-1














Literally, both the sentences mean the same. But metaphorically (as an idiom), yes, your interpretation is correct.






share|improve this answer










New contributor




Bella Swan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 2





    The original poster's second interpretation can be loosened to "suspend the conversation". For example, "Uh-oh. [Something urgent came up.] Hang on a second while I put down the phone and deal with this."

    – Jasper
    2 days ago










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6 Answers
6






active

oldest

votes








6 Answers
6






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









16














They both mean the same thing. You can say "Put down the [something]" or "Put the [something] down". Using old fashioned, wired, phones, you terminate a call by replacing the receiver in its cradle ("putting it down"). On a modern mobile or cordless phone, you have to to press a button or touch a place on the screen. For either of these actions, people can say they "put down", or even "hang up" the phone.






share|improve this answer




















  • 3





    It's an edge case, but just to mention that one should be careful if the [something] is an animal - depending on contract of course, saying "Please put the dog down" can have very different meanings :P

    – BruceWayne
    2 days ago







  • 3





    @BruceWayne I don't see how that's relevant.

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago






  • 4





    Brucewayne - In the 1980s, the British government introduced a new tax, the "Poll tax". Each household had to complete a form listing all residents. Some people were confused about who should be included. The Daily Mail newspaper caused unintended amusement with an article headed "What to do about Granny? Put her down.".

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago







  • 2





    @MichaelHarvey Given the Mail's reputation, I doubt the pun was an accident.

    – chrylis
    2 days ago












  • British headline writers, from the Sun to the Telegraph, if they have to mention a bishop, take every opportunity to use the word 'bash' in the same breath.

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago















16














They both mean the same thing. You can say "Put down the [something]" or "Put the [something] down". Using old fashioned, wired, phones, you terminate a call by replacing the receiver in its cradle ("putting it down"). On a modern mobile or cordless phone, you have to to press a button or touch a place on the screen. For either of these actions, people can say they "put down", or even "hang up" the phone.






share|improve this answer




















  • 3





    It's an edge case, but just to mention that one should be careful if the [something] is an animal - depending on contract of course, saying "Please put the dog down" can have very different meanings :P

    – BruceWayne
    2 days ago







  • 3





    @BruceWayne I don't see how that's relevant.

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago






  • 4





    Brucewayne - In the 1980s, the British government introduced a new tax, the "Poll tax". Each household had to complete a form listing all residents. Some people were confused about who should be included. The Daily Mail newspaper caused unintended amusement with an article headed "What to do about Granny? Put her down.".

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago







  • 2





    @MichaelHarvey Given the Mail's reputation, I doubt the pun was an accident.

    – chrylis
    2 days ago












  • British headline writers, from the Sun to the Telegraph, if they have to mention a bishop, take every opportunity to use the word 'bash' in the same breath.

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago













16












16








16







They both mean the same thing. You can say "Put down the [something]" or "Put the [something] down". Using old fashioned, wired, phones, you terminate a call by replacing the receiver in its cradle ("putting it down"). On a modern mobile or cordless phone, you have to to press a button or touch a place on the screen. For either of these actions, people can say they "put down", or even "hang up" the phone.






share|improve this answer















They both mean the same thing. You can say "Put down the [something]" or "Put the [something] down". Using old fashioned, wired, phones, you terminate a call by replacing the receiver in its cradle ("putting it down"). On a modern mobile or cordless phone, you have to to press a button or touch a place on the screen. For either of these actions, people can say they "put down", or even "hang up" the phone.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 2 days ago

























answered 2 days ago









Michael HarveyMichael Harvey

17.1k11839




17.1k11839







  • 3





    It's an edge case, but just to mention that one should be careful if the [something] is an animal - depending on contract of course, saying "Please put the dog down" can have very different meanings :P

    – BruceWayne
    2 days ago







  • 3





    @BruceWayne I don't see how that's relevant.

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago






  • 4





    Brucewayne - In the 1980s, the British government introduced a new tax, the "Poll tax". Each household had to complete a form listing all residents. Some people were confused about who should be included. The Daily Mail newspaper caused unintended amusement with an article headed "What to do about Granny? Put her down.".

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago







  • 2





    @MichaelHarvey Given the Mail's reputation, I doubt the pun was an accident.

    – chrylis
    2 days ago












  • British headline writers, from the Sun to the Telegraph, if they have to mention a bishop, take every opportunity to use the word 'bash' in the same breath.

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago












  • 3





    It's an edge case, but just to mention that one should be careful if the [something] is an animal - depending on contract of course, saying "Please put the dog down" can have very different meanings :P

    – BruceWayne
    2 days ago







  • 3





    @BruceWayne I don't see how that's relevant.

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago






  • 4





    Brucewayne - In the 1980s, the British government introduced a new tax, the "Poll tax". Each household had to complete a form listing all residents. Some people were confused about who should be included. The Daily Mail newspaper caused unintended amusement with an article headed "What to do about Granny? Put her down.".

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago







  • 2





    @MichaelHarvey Given the Mail's reputation, I doubt the pun was an accident.

    – chrylis
    2 days ago












  • British headline writers, from the Sun to the Telegraph, if they have to mention a bishop, take every opportunity to use the word 'bash' in the same breath.

    – Michael Harvey
    2 days ago







3




3





It's an edge case, but just to mention that one should be careful if the [something] is an animal - depending on contract of course, saying "Please put the dog down" can have very different meanings :P

– BruceWayne
2 days ago






It's an edge case, but just to mention that one should be careful if the [something] is an animal - depending on contract of course, saying "Please put the dog down" can have very different meanings :P

– BruceWayne
2 days ago





3




3





@BruceWayne I don't see how that's relevant.

– David Richerby
2 days ago





@BruceWayne I don't see how that's relevant.

– David Richerby
2 days ago




4




4





Brucewayne - In the 1980s, the British government introduced a new tax, the "Poll tax". Each household had to complete a form listing all residents. Some people were confused about who should be included. The Daily Mail newspaper caused unintended amusement with an article headed "What to do about Granny? Put her down.".

– Michael Harvey
2 days ago






Brucewayne - In the 1980s, the British government introduced a new tax, the "Poll tax". Each household had to complete a form listing all residents. Some people were confused about who should be included. The Daily Mail newspaper caused unintended amusement with an article headed "What to do about Granny? Put her down.".

– Michael Harvey
2 days ago





2




2





@MichaelHarvey Given the Mail's reputation, I doubt the pun was an accident.

– chrylis
2 days ago






@MichaelHarvey Given the Mail's reputation, I doubt the pun was an accident.

– chrylis
2 days ago














British headline writers, from the Sun to the Telegraph, if they have to mention a bishop, take every opportunity to use the word 'bash' in the same breath.

– Michael Harvey
2 days ago





British headline writers, from the Sun to the Telegraph, if they have to mention a bishop, take every opportunity to use the word 'bash' in the same breath.

– Michael Harvey
2 days ago













12














The actual meaning is the same, but in normal conversation I would be more likely to say "put the phone down", but if I lost patience with you because you are not listening this would turn to "Put Down The Phone".






share|improve this answer


















  • 4





    yes in my head I hear "put down the phone" in a very stern voice with lots of !!!

    – WendyG
    2 days ago















12














The actual meaning is the same, but in normal conversation I would be more likely to say "put the phone down", but if I lost patience with you because you are not listening this would turn to "Put Down The Phone".






share|improve this answer


















  • 4





    yes in my head I hear "put down the phone" in a very stern voice with lots of !!!

    – WendyG
    2 days ago













12












12








12







The actual meaning is the same, but in normal conversation I would be more likely to say "put the phone down", but if I lost patience with you because you are not listening this would turn to "Put Down The Phone".






share|improve this answer













The actual meaning is the same, but in normal conversation I would be more likely to say "put the phone down", but if I lost patience with you because you are not listening this would turn to "Put Down The Phone".







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 2 days ago









gnasher729gnasher729

1,47356




1,47356







  • 4





    yes in my head I hear "put down the phone" in a very stern voice with lots of !!!

    – WendyG
    2 days ago












  • 4





    yes in my head I hear "put down the phone" in a very stern voice with lots of !!!

    – WendyG
    2 days ago







4




4





yes in my head I hear "put down the phone" in a very stern voice with lots of !!!

– WendyG
2 days ago





yes in my head I hear "put down the phone" in a very stern voice with lots of !!!

– WendyG
2 days ago











4














I don't think there's any difference between the two phrases. Perhaps some people think they're different but, if you want to communicate clearly, you shouldn't rely on people picking up such subtle differences.






share|improve this answer

























  • "down" isn't a preposition, so "put the phone down" doesn't violate that rule.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Fair point. It is a preposition in some situations ("He fell down the well") but it's considered adverbial in "put down". I'll delete that part of my answer. (Though I could double down (er, adverb again?) and claim that people might mistakenly criticize ending a sentence with a preposition, citing myself as evidence. ;-) )

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago







  • 1





    Fair enough. They mistakenly think it's X, and also mistakenly think you shouldn't X.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Exactly! These strawmen are wrong!

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago
















4














I don't think there's any difference between the two phrases. Perhaps some people think they're different but, if you want to communicate clearly, you shouldn't rely on people picking up such subtle differences.






share|improve this answer

























  • "down" isn't a preposition, so "put the phone down" doesn't violate that rule.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Fair point. It is a preposition in some situations ("He fell down the well") but it's considered adverbial in "put down". I'll delete that part of my answer. (Though I could double down (er, adverb again?) and claim that people might mistakenly criticize ending a sentence with a preposition, citing myself as evidence. ;-) )

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago







  • 1





    Fair enough. They mistakenly think it's X, and also mistakenly think you shouldn't X.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Exactly! These strawmen are wrong!

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago














4












4








4







I don't think there's any difference between the two phrases. Perhaps some people think they're different but, if you want to communicate clearly, you shouldn't rely on people picking up such subtle differences.






share|improve this answer















I don't think there's any difference between the two phrases. Perhaps some people think they're different but, if you want to communicate clearly, you shouldn't rely on people picking up such subtle differences.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 2 days ago

























answered 2 days ago









David RicherbyDavid Richerby

7,3712042




7,3712042












  • "down" isn't a preposition, so "put the phone down" doesn't violate that rule.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Fair point. It is a preposition in some situations ("He fell down the well") but it's considered adverbial in "put down". I'll delete that part of my answer. (Though I could double down (er, adverb again?) and claim that people might mistakenly criticize ending a sentence with a preposition, citing myself as evidence. ;-) )

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago







  • 1





    Fair enough. They mistakenly think it's X, and also mistakenly think you shouldn't X.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Exactly! These strawmen are wrong!

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago


















  • "down" isn't a preposition, so "put the phone down" doesn't violate that rule.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Fair point. It is a preposition in some situations ("He fell down the well") but it's considered adverbial in "put down". I'll delete that part of my answer. (Though I could double down (er, adverb again?) and claim that people might mistakenly criticize ending a sentence with a preposition, citing myself as evidence. ;-) )

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago







  • 1





    Fair enough. They mistakenly think it's X, and also mistakenly think you shouldn't X.

    – Barmar
    2 days ago











  • @Barmar Exactly! These strawmen are wrong!

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago

















"down" isn't a preposition, so "put the phone down" doesn't violate that rule.

– Barmar
2 days ago





"down" isn't a preposition, so "put the phone down" doesn't violate that rule.

– Barmar
2 days ago













@Barmar Fair point. It is a preposition in some situations ("He fell down the well") but it's considered adverbial in "put down". I'll delete that part of my answer. (Though I could double down (er, adverb again?) and claim that people might mistakenly criticize ending a sentence with a preposition, citing myself as evidence. ;-) )

– David Richerby
2 days ago






@Barmar Fair point. It is a preposition in some situations ("He fell down the well") but it's considered adverbial in "put down". I'll delete that part of my answer. (Though I could double down (er, adverb again?) and claim that people might mistakenly criticize ending a sentence with a preposition, citing myself as evidence. ;-) )

– David Richerby
2 days ago





1




1





Fair enough. They mistakenly think it's X, and also mistakenly think you shouldn't X.

– Barmar
2 days ago





Fair enough. They mistakenly think it's X, and also mistakenly think you shouldn't X.

– Barmar
2 days ago













@Barmar Exactly! These strawmen are wrong!

– David Richerby
2 days ago






@Barmar Exactly! These strawmen are wrong!

– David Richerby
2 days ago












2














They mean the same thing, but there can be differences of emphasis. In general, the phrase with more significance often comes back, so "Put the phone down" emphasizes draws attention to the phone, while "Put down the phone" emphasizes the action of putting it down.



For instance, if someone is holding two things, you might say "Put the phone down" to make it clear that you're just talking about putting that one thing down.



However, this is a very slight nuance, and when speaking you can use tone of voice to override it. "Put the phone down" emphasizes "down" by saying it more forcefully.






share|improve this answer























  • "Put down the phone" emphasises "down" equally forcefully.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis I was just trying to show an exmple where the tone results in the opposite emphasis from the order. Of course, you can also use tone to reinforce the emphasis.

    – Barmar
    yesterday















2














They mean the same thing, but there can be differences of emphasis. In general, the phrase with more significance often comes back, so "Put the phone down" emphasizes draws attention to the phone, while "Put down the phone" emphasizes the action of putting it down.



For instance, if someone is holding two things, you might say "Put the phone down" to make it clear that you're just talking about putting that one thing down.



However, this is a very slight nuance, and when speaking you can use tone of voice to override it. "Put the phone down" emphasizes "down" by saying it more forcefully.






share|improve this answer























  • "Put down the phone" emphasises "down" equally forcefully.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis I was just trying to show an exmple where the tone results in the opposite emphasis from the order. Of course, you can also use tone to reinforce the emphasis.

    – Barmar
    yesterday













2












2








2







They mean the same thing, but there can be differences of emphasis. In general, the phrase with more significance often comes back, so "Put the phone down" emphasizes draws attention to the phone, while "Put down the phone" emphasizes the action of putting it down.



For instance, if someone is holding two things, you might say "Put the phone down" to make it clear that you're just talking about putting that one thing down.



However, this is a very slight nuance, and when speaking you can use tone of voice to override it. "Put the phone down" emphasizes "down" by saying it more forcefully.






share|improve this answer













They mean the same thing, but there can be differences of emphasis. In general, the phrase with more significance often comes back, so "Put the phone down" emphasizes draws attention to the phone, while "Put down the phone" emphasizes the action of putting it down.



For instance, if someone is holding two things, you might say "Put the phone down" to make it clear that you're just talking about putting that one thing down.



However, this is a very slight nuance, and when speaking you can use tone of voice to override it. "Put the phone down" emphasizes "down" by saying it more forcefully.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 2 days ago









BarmarBarmar

71335




71335












  • "Put down the phone" emphasises "down" equally forcefully.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis I was just trying to show an exmple where the tone results in the opposite emphasis from the order. Of course, you can also use tone to reinforce the emphasis.

    – Barmar
    yesterday

















  • "Put down the phone" emphasises "down" equally forcefully.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • @CJDennis I was just trying to show an exmple where the tone results in the opposite emphasis from the order. Of course, you can also use tone to reinforce the emphasis.

    – Barmar
    yesterday
















"Put down the phone" emphasises "down" equally forcefully.

– CJ Dennis
yesterday





"Put down the phone" emphasises "down" equally forcefully.

– CJ Dennis
yesterday













@CJDennis I was just trying to show an exmple where the tone results in the opposite emphasis from the order. Of course, you can also use tone to reinforce the emphasis.

– Barmar
yesterday





@CJDennis I was just trying to show an exmple where the tone results in the opposite emphasis from the order. Of course, you can also use tone to reinforce the emphasis.

– Barmar
yesterday











0














The difference between the two sentence variations amounts to a principle of grammatical best practice that urges a speaker never to split a verb and its auxiliary preposition unnecessarily.



  • "Put down the knife!" not "Put the knife down!"

  • "The student looked up the definition" not "The student looked the definition up."

However, recognizing when not to split up a prepositional phrase requires a certain fluency in English rather than a hard-and-fast rule.



  • "Could you please switch it off?" not "Could you please switch off it?"





share|improve this answer








New contributor




ThomasPepperz is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • "Grammatical best practice" = prescriptivism. As a fluent native speaker, I can say that all your examples are correct and acceptable except for "Could you please switch off it?" as you have already noted. The reason for the last is that "it" is a pronoun, whereas your other examples use nouns as the direct object. It's a very common form in English: "[verb] [preposition] [noun phrase]", "[verb] [noun phrase] [preposition]", or "[verb] [pronoun] [preposition]", but not "[verb] [preposition] [pronoun]".

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • As pointed out in a comment on a different answer, "down" is not a preposition here; it's an adverb. What I said above applies to adverbs as well as prepositions.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • About the last example, which apparently breaks the rule, being not a native English speaker indeed, I (actually not really so) humbly propose an interpretation: that when an adverb looks like a preposition, it is better postponed, than interposed, exactly in order to avoid the possible misunderstanding. Could that be an explanation?

    – lurix66
    yesterday















0














The difference between the two sentence variations amounts to a principle of grammatical best practice that urges a speaker never to split a verb and its auxiliary preposition unnecessarily.



  • "Put down the knife!" not "Put the knife down!"

  • "The student looked up the definition" not "The student looked the definition up."

However, recognizing when not to split up a prepositional phrase requires a certain fluency in English rather than a hard-and-fast rule.



  • "Could you please switch it off?" not "Could you please switch off it?"





share|improve this answer








New contributor




ThomasPepperz is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • "Grammatical best practice" = prescriptivism. As a fluent native speaker, I can say that all your examples are correct and acceptable except for "Could you please switch off it?" as you have already noted. The reason for the last is that "it" is a pronoun, whereas your other examples use nouns as the direct object. It's a very common form in English: "[verb] [preposition] [noun phrase]", "[verb] [noun phrase] [preposition]", or "[verb] [pronoun] [preposition]", but not "[verb] [preposition] [pronoun]".

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • As pointed out in a comment on a different answer, "down" is not a preposition here; it's an adverb. What I said above applies to adverbs as well as prepositions.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • About the last example, which apparently breaks the rule, being not a native English speaker indeed, I (actually not really so) humbly propose an interpretation: that when an adverb looks like a preposition, it is better postponed, than interposed, exactly in order to avoid the possible misunderstanding. Could that be an explanation?

    – lurix66
    yesterday













0












0








0







The difference between the two sentence variations amounts to a principle of grammatical best practice that urges a speaker never to split a verb and its auxiliary preposition unnecessarily.



  • "Put down the knife!" not "Put the knife down!"

  • "The student looked up the definition" not "The student looked the definition up."

However, recognizing when not to split up a prepositional phrase requires a certain fluency in English rather than a hard-and-fast rule.



  • "Could you please switch it off?" not "Could you please switch off it?"





share|improve this answer








New contributor




ThomasPepperz is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.










The difference between the two sentence variations amounts to a principle of grammatical best practice that urges a speaker never to split a verb and its auxiliary preposition unnecessarily.



  • "Put down the knife!" not "Put the knife down!"

  • "The student looked up the definition" not "The student looked the definition up."

However, recognizing when not to split up a prepositional phrase requires a certain fluency in English rather than a hard-and-fast rule.



  • "Could you please switch it off?" not "Could you please switch off it?"






share|improve this answer








New contributor




ThomasPepperz is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer






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answered yesterday









ThomasPepperzThomasPepperz

695




695




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New contributor





ThomasPepperz is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






ThomasPepperz is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












  • "Grammatical best practice" = prescriptivism. As a fluent native speaker, I can say that all your examples are correct and acceptable except for "Could you please switch off it?" as you have already noted. The reason for the last is that "it" is a pronoun, whereas your other examples use nouns as the direct object. It's a very common form in English: "[verb] [preposition] [noun phrase]", "[verb] [noun phrase] [preposition]", or "[verb] [pronoun] [preposition]", but not "[verb] [preposition] [pronoun]".

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • As pointed out in a comment on a different answer, "down" is not a preposition here; it's an adverb. What I said above applies to adverbs as well as prepositions.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • About the last example, which apparently breaks the rule, being not a native English speaker indeed, I (actually not really so) humbly propose an interpretation: that when an adverb looks like a preposition, it is better postponed, than interposed, exactly in order to avoid the possible misunderstanding. Could that be an explanation?

    – lurix66
    yesterday

















  • "Grammatical best practice" = prescriptivism. As a fluent native speaker, I can say that all your examples are correct and acceptable except for "Could you please switch off it?" as you have already noted. The reason for the last is that "it" is a pronoun, whereas your other examples use nouns as the direct object. It's a very common form in English: "[verb] [preposition] [noun phrase]", "[verb] [noun phrase] [preposition]", or "[verb] [pronoun] [preposition]", but not "[verb] [preposition] [pronoun]".

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • As pointed out in a comment on a different answer, "down" is not a preposition here; it's an adverb. What I said above applies to adverbs as well as prepositions.

    – CJ Dennis
    yesterday











  • About the last example, which apparently breaks the rule, being not a native English speaker indeed, I (actually not really so) humbly propose an interpretation: that when an adverb looks like a preposition, it is better postponed, than interposed, exactly in order to avoid the possible misunderstanding. Could that be an explanation?

    – lurix66
    yesterday
















"Grammatical best practice" = prescriptivism. As a fluent native speaker, I can say that all your examples are correct and acceptable except for "Could you please switch off it?" as you have already noted. The reason for the last is that "it" is a pronoun, whereas your other examples use nouns as the direct object. It's a very common form in English: "[verb] [preposition] [noun phrase]", "[verb] [noun phrase] [preposition]", or "[verb] [pronoun] [preposition]", but not "[verb] [preposition] [pronoun]".

– CJ Dennis
yesterday





"Grammatical best practice" = prescriptivism. As a fluent native speaker, I can say that all your examples are correct and acceptable except for "Could you please switch off it?" as you have already noted. The reason for the last is that "it" is a pronoun, whereas your other examples use nouns as the direct object. It's a very common form in English: "[verb] [preposition] [noun phrase]", "[verb] [noun phrase] [preposition]", or "[verb] [pronoun] [preposition]", but not "[verb] [preposition] [pronoun]".

– CJ Dennis
yesterday













As pointed out in a comment on a different answer, "down" is not a preposition here; it's an adverb. What I said above applies to adverbs as well as prepositions.

– CJ Dennis
yesterday





As pointed out in a comment on a different answer, "down" is not a preposition here; it's an adverb. What I said above applies to adverbs as well as prepositions.

– CJ Dennis
yesterday













About the last example, which apparently breaks the rule, being not a native English speaker indeed, I (actually not really so) humbly propose an interpretation: that when an adverb looks like a preposition, it is better postponed, than interposed, exactly in order to avoid the possible misunderstanding. Could that be an explanation?

– lurix66
yesterday





About the last example, which apparently breaks the rule, being not a native English speaker indeed, I (actually not really so) humbly propose an interpretation: that when an adverb looks like a preposition, it is better postponed, than interposed, exactly in order to avoid the possible misunderstanding. Could that be an explanation?

– lurix66
yesterday











-1














Literally, both the sentences mean the same. But metaphorically (as an idiom), yes, your interpretation is correct.






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  • 2





    The original poster's second interpretation can be loosened to "suspend the conversation". For example, "Uh-oh. [Something urgent came up.] Hang on a second while I put down the phone and deal with this."

    – Jasper
    2 days ago















-1














Literally, both the sentences mean the same. But metaphorically (as an idiom), yes, your interpretation is correct.






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Bella Swan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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  • 2





    The original poster's second interpretation can be loosened to "suspend the conversation". For example, "Uh-oh. [Something urgent came up.] Hang on a second while I put down the phone and deal with this."

    – Jasper
    2 days ago













-1












-1








-1







Literally, both the sentences mean the same. But metaphorically (as an idiom), yes, your interpretation is correct.






share|improve this answer










New contributor




Bella Swan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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Literally, both the sentences mean the same. But metaphorically (as an idiom), yes, your interpretation is correct.







share|improve this answer










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share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 2 days ago





















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answered 2 days ago









Bella SwanBella Swan

3456




3456




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  • 2





    The original poster's second interpretation can be loosened to "suspend the conversation". For example, "Uh-oh. [Something urgent came up.] Hang on a second while I put down the phone and deal with this."

    – Jasper
    2 days ago












  • 2





    The original poster's second interpretation can be loosened to "suspend the conversation". For example, "Uh-oh. [Something urgent came up.] Hang on a second while I put down the phone and deal with this."

    – Jasper
    2 days ago







2




2





The original poster's second interpretation can be loosened to "suspend the conversation". For example, "Uh-oh. [Something urgent came up.] Hang on a second while I put down the phone and deal with this."

– Jasper
2 days ago





The original poster's second interpretation can be loosened to "suspend the conversation". For example, "Uh-oh. [Something urgent came up.] Hang on a second while I put down the phone and deal with this."

– Jasper
2 days ago

















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