Phrasal verbs! Whether you love them or hate them, it's impossible to avoid them. A phrasal verb is a verb with a 'particle' attached to it. This particle, usually a preposition such as up, down, off, on, etc., changes the meaning of the verb.
Did you know there are over 10,000 phrasal verbs in English? You probably know a lot more than you think you do!
For example: 'Please turn off the light.' > turn off is a phrasal verb.
Some phrasal verbs are especially difficult because they have more than one meaning. This means we can use them in different contexts, to mean different things.
An example of these verbs is take off.
Let's look at 5 meanings of this phrasal verb.
1. When you remove something from your body, you take it off:
e. g. I’m going to take off my coat because it’s so warm out here!
This phrasal verb can be split, which means you have the choice of putting the object (the coat) between 'take' and 'off' or after 'off':
a) I take my shoes off. ✅
b) I take off my shoes. ✅
2. When you remove something from a surface/something it is stuck to, you take it off:
e.g.
1. She took the book off the table.
2. They took the chicken skin off the bone.
When we use it in this way, we don't normally split the phrasal verb.
3. When a airplane leaves the ground and flies up into the air, it takes off:
e.g.
1. Our plane took off an hour late because of the snow.
2. When is your plane taking off tomorrow?
If you try to split the phrasal verb this time, you'll see that you can't. This is because it does not have an object.
4. When you take time off from work or study, you do something different, to have a break/to do something different:
e.g.
1. I took the day off to go climbing.
2. He looks stressed; he needs to take some time off.
You always need an object with this meaning, and you split the phrasal verb.
She takes time off work every summer.
We should take the morning off studying to go for a walk.
5. When you leave somewhere suddenly, you take off. This meaning is more informal.
e.g.
1. After he found out the FBI was looking for him, he took off in a hurry.
2. This party's boring — let's take off.
The phrasal verb can't be split here because it does not have an object.
Practice:
We've looked at 5 meanings of the phrasal verb take off.
Below are some pictures of the different uses. Match the photos (a-e) to the uses (1-5). Then, write a sentence about each photo.
A reminder:
When you remove an item of clothing from your body.
When you move something from a surface or something it is stuck to.
When an airplane leaves the ground.
When you take a break from work or study to do something different.
When you leave a place suddenly.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Answers:
Remember there is more than one correct answer.
a) 5
- The wedding guests are taking off from the wedding to escape from the dinosaur.
- When the dinosaur arrived, everyone quickly took off.
b) 3
- The plane is taking off (from the runway.)
- What time does your plane take off?
c) 1
- Please take off your shoes./ Please take your shoes off.
- Shoes must be taken off.
d) 4
- They are taking some time off to go on holiday.
- I wish I could take a week off and go to the beach!
e) 5
- This website shows you how to take paint off a wall.
- The person is taking the paint off with a special tool.
Extra activity: Go back to the different uses of 'take off' and write your own examples.
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