What are phrasal verbs?
A phrasal verb is the combination of a verb + a preposition/adverb resulting in a new verb with a different meaning. The result is usually a metaphor, not the literal meaning of each individual word.
verb
preposition or adverb
new verb - different meaning
He came out to talk to us.
Not a phrasal verb. Just came out.
Lies always come out in the end.
She came in and closed the door.
Not a phrasal verb. Just came in.
I was in shock when the result came in.
Phrasal verb. It was announced.
She came up to say hello.
Not a phrasal verb. Just came.
His name came up in the conversation.
It's not literally coming or going anywhere. Something is known, published, revealed or talked about.
She looked back and said good-bye.
Not a phrasal verb. Just looking.
That's what I regret, looking back on it.
He looked up and saw the plane.
Not a phrasal verb. Just looking.
He looked up the word in the dictionary.
She looked into the box and found it.
Not a phrasal verb. Just looking.
The police are looking into it.
In phrasals with look, you're not literally looking at anything. You're doing something else, remembering, searching, and so on.
Let's run down to the beach.
Not a phrasal verb. Just running.
The health service has been run down.
They ran out of the house.
Not a phrasal verb. Just running.
He ran out of money.
She ran up the stairs.
Not a phrasal verb. Just running.
She ran up a huge bill.
In phrasal verbs with run, you're not literally running. You're doing something else, like spending time or money.
Grammar and word order
Most phrasal verbs can be separated.
Turn on the light.
Turn the light on.
Turn it on.
Don't say turn on it.
Some phrasal verbs always stay together.
Look after the children.
Look after them.
Don't say look them after or look the children after.
(Intransitive) Some phrasal verbs can't be separated and don't take an object.
He went away.
Let's eat out tonight.
Hurry up! It's late.
So remember that when we have an object (it, him her, the bus, etc) we need to know the word order. This information is shown in most dictionaries. But even if it isn't you should study the example to try to learn how the verb is used.