Why is the sentence, “Pick them up” correct, and why is “Pick up them” incorrect? How do you use pick them up in a sentence? Sample sentences.
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“Pick them up” is correct because the sentence is in the imperative form and the pronoun “them” is the direct object of the verb “pick.” In this sentence, “pick” is the transitive verb, and “them” is the object that is being acted upon by the verb.
“Pick up them” is incorrect because it is not in the standard word order for a sentence in the imperative form. In this sentence, “them” is being used as the object of the preposition “up,” which doesn’t make sense in this context. The standard word order for a sentence in the imperative form is as follows: verb + (object/complement).
How do you use pick them up in a sentence?
Here are a few examples of how “pick them up” can be used in a sentence:
- “Please pick them up and put them in the basket.”
- “I’ll be by to pick them up at 7 PM.”
- “Can you pick them up on your way home from work?”
- “I tripped and dropped my keys, can you please pick them up for me?”
- “I will have to leave early, Can you pick them up from school?”
In all above examples “pick them up” used as a verb phrase with the meaning of to lift and collect something or someone, and “them” is the direct object that indicates what is picked up.
How do you use pick up them in a sentence?
“Pick up them” is not a standard construction in English. As I explained earlier “Pick up” is a preposition which require an object following it which is the direct object and the action is performed on that. Here “them” is not a direct object in the sentence, Instead, it is placed after the preposition which doesn’t make sense. So “pick up them” is not a grammatically correct sentence.
If you want to use pick up in sentence and use “them” in sentence, you can phrase it in a different way like:
- “I will pick them up on my way home.”
- “I’m going to pick up a few things at the store, and I’ll pick them up too.”
- “She always leaves her things around, and I end up picking them up.”
In all above example “pick up” is used with a verb and “them” is the direct object of the verb and it makes sense in the context of the sentence.
