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Easy to tell. Substitute a pronoun for the door. *He pushed open it. ~ He pushed it open. Particle shift (which applies only to phrasal verbs) is obligatory with a pronoun object. – jlawlerFeb 11 at 0:27
From your words, “pry open are phrasal verbs,” ; “pry open it” doesn’t seem to be possible. So I’m very confused why you called this phrasal verbs? link – ListeneverFeb 11 at 0:49
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If it is a phrasal verb, like pry open, then *pry open itshould be impossible, and pry it open should be OK. If it's not a phrasal verb (like look at), then look at it is OK, but *look it at is not. – jlawlerFeb 11 at 1:37
@jlawler Thank you very much. Now I understand what you say. – ListeneverFeb 11 at 1:50
More phrasal verb puzzles (for native speakers -- if you're not one, find one to use as an informant) here. – jlawlerFeb 11 at 2:09