put together — assemble
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
To join parts to make something whole, like building furniture or making something from separate pieces.
Say it like a native
Textbook Constructing the bookshelf required considerable effort.
Native The bookshelf was a pain to put together.
'Put together' is the everyday verb for assembling; the formal version is stiff.
Pattern: put something together
In use
- It took me an hour to put together the new bookshelf.daily life
- In my opinion, being able to put together simple furniture is a useful skill, especially for students living on their own.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ I can't put together it.
✓ I can't put it together.
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle: 'put it together'.
Common collocations
put together + item— the furniture, a model, the parts, a shelf
Don't confuse it
Not the same as 'set up', which often means to prepare equipment for use.
Related
- put together (prepare or organize) — Another meaning of 'put together' is 'prepare or organize'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.