Either way is fine.
Note that if you change "Tom" to "him" then only "pick him up" works, not "pick up him."
Dear all,
I'll pick up Tom at the station.
I'll pick Tom up at the station.
In the sentences above, which word order is better?
When a pronoun is used, I often see "pick ...up" rather than "pick up...", but I'm not sure about the cases of nouns.
Thank you!
OP
Last edited by optimistic pessimist; 28-Nov-2012 at 14:06.
Either way is fine.
Note that if you change "Tom" to "him" then only "pick him up" works, not "pick up him."
I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.
Is this related to any kind of grammar?Note that if you change "Tom" to "him" then only "pick him up" works, not "pick up him."
'Pick up' is a separable phrasal verb.
See Separable/inseparable phrasal verbs.
Rover