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I have often heard the following statements when someone talks about shoes, cloths, etc. I don't know which one is more appropriate or grammatically correct.

  1. Hey, put your shoes on.

  2. Hey, put on your shoes.

  3. Take off your coat, please.

  4. Take your coat off, please.

Any thoughts?

Can we also say "take out your coat"?

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2  
Have you checked their meaning and use in a dictionary? Here's an appropriate link‌​. – Irene Jan 16 '12 at 19:17
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"Take out your coat" is grammatically correct, but does not have the same meaning. It would imply that your coat is put away, e.g. in a closet, and you should remove it for easier access, usually so you can put it on and leave shortly. – Kevin Jan 16 '12 at 19:17
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General reference. – FumbleFingers Jan 16 '12 at 19:20
@Irene: My questions is not what it means. My question is in the order of words. But thanks for the link, though. – user17857 Jan 16 '12 at 19:20
The order of words is extremely important with phrasal verbs. For some discussion, see here and here. – John Lawler Jan 16 '12 at 19:59

closed as general reference by FumbleFingers, Irene, Matt Эллен, Barrie England, onomatomaniak Jan 16 '12 at 22:07

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

They are all correct. Verbs like "put on" and "take off" are called phrasal verbs. A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition/adverb. As particles are separable you may construct as:

It was hot, so I took my jacket off.
It was hot, so I took off my jacket.

For more information please check Phrasal verb on Wikipedia.

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up vote 0 down vote

All of the above are grammatically correct. You can't say "take out your coat". It doesn't mean the same thing. You can check this Oxford entry here for take.

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What does take out your coat mean? I went to the website and I couldn't figure it out myself. – user17857 Jan 16 '12 at 21:25
up vote 0 down vote

Regarding "take out your coat": "Out" is the opposite of "in" or "inside". So to be able to take X out (of Y), it must be that X is currently inside Y. If your coat is inside you, you're not wearing it correctly :)

As Kevin points out, if you just said "take out your coat" without saying what to take it out of, the listener would probably understand that they should take it out of some place where it is stored (a closet, a car, the washing machine).

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