Table 1 Examples in the LOB Corpus of direct objects combined with six verbs and ten adverbial particles: both orders combined (the number of examples of V O part, i.e. verb + direct object + particle, is given within parentheses).
 
Verb
about
aside
back
down
in
off
on
out
over
up
Total
BRING
22
(-)
-
14
(5)
7
(5)
12
(-)
-
1
(-)
13
(1)
4
(2)
17
(4)
90
(17)
CARRY
2
(2)
-
-
-
2
(-)
2
(-)
12
(1)
50
(-)
-
-
67
(3)
CUT
-
-
2
(-)
2
(-)
-
8
(2)
-
9
(-)
-
1
(-)
22
(2)
PUT
-
2
(-)
3
(2)
22
(10)
18
(2)
3
(-)
28
(5)
8
(-)
-
21
(2)
105
(21)
SEND
-
-
3
(1)
2
(1)
2
(1)
5
(4)
-
5
(1)
1
(1)
3
(3)
21
(12)
TAKE
-
-
5
(4)
3
(2)
10
(0)
18
(7)
17
(-)
8
(1)
15
(-)
57
(2)
134
(46)
Total
24
(2)
2
(2)
27
(12)
36
(18)
43
(3)
36
(13)
58
(6)
93
(3)
20
(3)
99
(11)
348
(71)



 
He hopes to bring his band over to this country in the near future ... LOB E12:34

verb: bring
particle: over
Object length: 2
Object NP: poss. det. + common noun
meaning: literal
adverbial specification: yes 
text category: E
The seat was wet, and ants kept taking things back and forth along it, but he didn't mind. LOB K26:60

verb: take
particle: back
Object length: 1
Object NP: indef. pl.
meaning: literal
adverbial specification: yes
text category: K

Comment: NB! coordination: back and forth
She has no idea of the cost of things, because she's never had a home of her own to run. But I must say she's making a good job of bringing up Steven. LOB F14:118

verb: bring
particle: up
Object length: 1
Object NP: proper name
meaning: figurative
adverbial specification: no
text category: F

Figure 1 Examples of classified material. (You will probably find it useful to underline the words in focus - but do not change the text in any other way. You will probably also operate with abbreviated codes, so that you can work more quickly and efficiently.)


Table 2 Word order patterns with different lengths of the direct object
 

 Number of words
V part O
V O part
1-2 words
158 (70%)
67 (30%)
3+ words
209 (98%)
4 (2%)


Table 3 Word order patterns with direct object differing in definiteness
 

Form
V part O
V O part
Proper name
2 (12%)
15 (88%)
Def. art. + common noun
34 (63%)
20 (37%)
Poss. Pron. + common noun
43 (68%)
20 (32%)
Other definite noun phrases
101 (92%)
9 (8%)
Indefinite noun phrases
187 (96%)
7 (4%)



Table 4 Word order patterns with literal vs. figurative meaning of the verb + particle combination
 
Meaning
V part O
V O part
Literal
94 (62%)
57 (38%)
Figurative
273 (95%)
14 (5%)


Table 5 Word order patterns in informative prose vs. fiction (text categories A-J vs. K-P in the LOB Corpus)*
 

Text category
V part O
V O part
Informative
263 (87%)
38 (13%)
Imaginative
104 (76%)
33 (24%)

* One of the categories of 'imaginative prose' in the LOB Corpus, viz. R, was omitted in this study. See Johansson (1986:61, note 4)