Ok, this guy’s knocked out some teeth here:
Danny Granger, American professional basketball player for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, famously knocked out his two front teeth in a victorious game against the Boston Celtics on 1 November 2008. You can say both of these:
- He knocked out two teeth.
- He knocked two teeth out.
But you can only say one of these:
- He knocked out them.
- He knocked them out.
Compare: “knock out” is a phrasal verb like:
put away (aufräumen), bring up (=mention), try out, give up, call up, rip off (=steal), think over, boss around (herumkomandieren), make up (=invent)
They all use the structure of “knock it out.”
There are lots of lists and exercises here. Try them out!
Contrast regular two part verbs:
fall for, bump into, get over, look at, go up, fall down…
Look at them!
3 Responses
He knocked out two teeth.
He knocked two teeth out.
He knocked them out.
He knocked out them.
“Knock out” is a phrasal verb.
This is the pattern:
(not put away it)
put it away – put away the toys & put the toys away
bring it up – bring up a problem & bring a problem up
try it out – try out a new way & try a new way out
give it up – give up smoking & give smoking up
call him up – call up a friend & call a friend up
rip her off – rip off a client & rip a client off
think it over – think over a suggestion & think a suggestion over
boss them around – boss your husband around & boss around your husband
make it up – make up a good story & make a good story up
Contrast regular verbs:
(not fall it for)
fall for it – fall for a story (drauf reinfallen)
bump into it – bump into a friend (begegnen)
get over it – get over a loss (überstehen)
look at it – look at pictures (anschauen)
go up it – go up a hill (hochgehen)
fall down it – fall down the stairs (runterfallen)
Dear Anne,
I hope that you are fine and healthy. Thank you very much for your
beautiful comments in my blog.
I think after seeing the picture of that player no one will have
the ability or the desire to say anything…..hehe
all the best for my lovely sister.
Hassan
Interesting: Asking the question like this was almost too easy!
* He knocked them out. (89%, 8 votes)
* He knocked out them. (11%, 1 vote)
Phrasal verbs are considered difficult. But they’re not really. In class I like to have them on cards and play with them, e.g. find a matching partner that means almost the same thing.