In this episode I make use of the song 'Take on me' by the 80's Norwegian band a-ha to explain the rule of word order in separable phrasal verbs.

*I do not own the rights to this song, and the segment of the song played in this episode is for educational purposes only.*

Rule: With separable phrasal verbs, if the direct object is a pronoun ( me, you, I we, etc) it has to go in the middle of the phrasal verb. That is, it has to be separate.

TAKE ON- transitive

1. Transitive- take on something. To accept some work or responsibility-
   Together- “ She is really taking on a lot at work these days. “
   “Working mothers take on a lot.”

2. Transitive and Separable- to fight or compete against someone (similar if you imagine it as accepting some work, the work of fighting someone.) Often used for competitive or sporting events.

Together- “ The Chicago Bulls will take on the Mets next Saturday.”
Separate- “ Our team will take them on!” (less common)

Useful links-

Stay up to date and follow me on Instagram @english.for.introverts . (I changed my username from what I said in the episode!)

Macmillan Dictionary- take on: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/take-on

Introverted Language Learner private Facebook community: https://form.jotform.com/alyssapoco/facebook-group

Espresso English- summary of phrasal verbs! : https://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-in-english/

Youtube- a-ha Take on me video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914

Lyrics to 'Take on me': https://genius.com/A-ha-take-on-me-lyrics

Separable phrasal verb practice worksheet from Cambridge: https://www.cambridge.org/grammarandbeyond/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/PhrasalVerbsDownloadable.pdf