Prepositions: of or off? | English Vocabulary Lesson

[Music] Right then! Doina, thanks very much for  sending in these questions, very good ones. A  

lot of people do get confused with the words  'of' and 'off' and also the preposition 'on',  

which is the opposite of 'off'. So, let's  have a look at when we use these prepositions,  

starting with 'of'. We use 'of' to connect  two nouns where one belongs to another,  

for example: the roof of the house, the  name of the game, the end of the movie.  

I think that's quite straightforward; you all  know about this usage of 'of'. But, 'of' can  

also be a preposition for a prepositional verb,  so you have verbs like: dream, accuse, consist,  

for example, and these three verbs, when you use  these verbs, you need the preposition 'of': dream  

of, accuse of, consist of. Now, as you see, I've  written that 'of' is never used as a preposition  

to create a phrasal verb. So, let me just remind  you of the difference between a prepositional  

verb and a phrasal verb. A prepositional  verb is when the verb needs a preposition,  

but that preposition doesn't change the meaning:  dream: dream of: nothing has changed. Accuse:  

accuse of. The word 'accuse' still has its  original meaning. Same with 'consist'. And now,  

we're going to look at prepositional ... sorry:  phrasal verbs, and you'll see that the preposition  

changes the meaning. Okay, so remember this bit.  These are the two things that we use 'of' for:  

belonging: two nouns, two things belonging to  each other, one belonging to another, and as a  

preposition for some verbs. Okay, now let's look  at 'off', so: 'o' - double 'f', and notice the  

difference in pronunciation. The other one, which  has one 'f' is pronounced like a 'v': /əv/ and a  

very short /ə/, whereas this one is 'off', so the  vowel is different:/ɒ/, and the consonant is also  

different: /f/: /ɒf/. So, 'off' obviously is also  a preposition, and it is the opposite of 'on'. So:  

on >< off. And we use these two prepositions 'on'  and 'off' for surfaces. I think you, again, you're  

familiar with this use: on the table, on the table  >< off the table. On the wall >< off the wall.  

On the ceiling >< off the ceiling. Right, so  far, so good, I think quite straightforward. But,  

now this preposition 'off', contrary to 'of'  is very common to be used in phrasal verbs.  

It becomes the particle in a phrasal verb that  changes the meaning. So, you have 'put', but 'put  

off' is a completely new verb, meaning 'postpone',  or 'call off', which means 'to cancel', or 'set  

off', which means 'leave, 'take off' - that's  rather logical: take off = remove, and show off,  

which is 'to boast'. Right, so this is all about  'off'. And to finish, let's see when we use 'on'.  

Now 'on' is more versatile. Firstly, as we said,  it's a preposition for surfaces: on the table,  

on the wall, on the ceiling, but it's also common  for abstract things. 'off' is not common like  

that, for example: on the radio, on TV. For  transport: on the bus, on the train, on the  

plane. And days and dates: on Wednesday, on the  7th of June, and other things that are abstract:  

on the list, for example, on a page. So, this is  now, there is no logic to this for these abstract  

ideas; you need to know. You need to know the  expression, and I have a lesson that you can go to  

and study these in more detail. And then, the last  thing about 'on' that's similar to off: It can be  

a preposition for prepositional verbs like: depend  on, rely on. Remember: the meaning doesn't change;  

that's why we call them prepositional verbs,  verbs that need a preposition. But, like 'off', it  

creates phrasal verbs as well: so 'put on' is to  'wear', 'carry on' is 'to continue', and 'hold on'  

is 'to wait'. Okay. So, that's just to directly  answer Doina's question. Thank you very much. I  

hope that's cleared up a little bit the difference  between 'of' (remember the pronunciation: /əv/)  

and 'off': /ɒf/, and how we use 'on' and 'off' as  prepositions. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.  

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