Learn English – “Wake up me” or “Wake me up” ? “Switch off the lights” or “Switch the lights off”

prepositional-phrasesprepositionsverbs

I wonder about "prepositional verbs" that comes with Object :

Wake me up.

or

Wake up me.


Switch the lights off.

or

Switch off the lights

where should we place the preposition ? after the verb or the object ?

Best Answer

With true phrasal verbs like switch off and wake up, where the object falls depends on the 'weight' of the object. A 'heavy' object (one with many words) falls after the preposition/particle..

I switched off [the lights in the upstairs hallway, bedrooms, and staircase].
I woke up [those of my exhausted fellows who had collapsed where they stood].

Putting the preposition/particle after such an object strands it too far from the verb, so both readers and hearers have to grope for the structure.

A medium-weight object may come before or after the preposition/particle.

I switched the overhead lights off. OR I switched off the overhead lights.
I woke John and Ryan up. OR I woke up John and Ryan.

But a very light object, like a single preposition, always comes before the preposition/particle.

I switched it off. BUT NOT *I switched off it.
I woke him up. BUT NOT *I woke up him.


What you call off and up here varies among grammarians.

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