Learn English – Verbs that change meaning depending on object position

adverbsmeaningverbs

I was writing a text and I stumbled upon the differences between:

  1. Lily slipped and threw up her keys
  2. Lily slipped and threw her keys up [in the air]

For a moment I was finding phrase 1 more natural to hear but then I realized the meaning there is completely different.

Is there a name for this phenomenon in English (if this is not an exception), in which a verb+adverb change completely its meaning by repositioning the object on the sentence?

Should I learn some rule in order to be cautious when using this composition?

Best Answer

Labels for words matters. The two verbs in your example are "slipped" and "threw".

Up can be an adverb (I was sick and vomited up everything), a preposition (They took a cruise up the Rhine), an adjective (the mood here is resolutely up), a noun (You can't have ups all the time in football), etc.

In your first example, up is an adverb (a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb). In your second, it is according to @Edwin Asworth, also an adverb. Please see below. However, if one presumes she threw her keys up into the air, it could be considered a preposition.

Also, in (Ame at least) English, throw up means to vomit, so that threw up her keys will first strike someone as a bit awkward, although in context it will be understood as it is meant to be.

Edited to reflect @Edwin Ashworth's information.

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