drop off

Separable

The object can go before or after the particle — but a pronoun MUST go in the middle: “clean it up”, never “clean up it”.

How to say it

Stress the particle, not the verb: drop OFF. Saying “DROP off” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.

Link across the gap. The final /p/ of “drop” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “drop off” is said “dro-poff”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.

Verb vs noun

As a noun the stress flips to the front: the verb is drop OFF, the noun is DROP-OFF. Same two words, different beat — “to drop OFF” is the action, “a drop-off” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.

3 meanings

1
To deliver someone or something to a place and leave.
- “The taxi driver dropped us off at the airport entrance.”
- “Can you drop the package off on your way in?”
Similar: deliver, leave
2
To fall asleep, usually unintentionally.
- “He dropped off halfway through the film.”
Similar: doze off, nod off
3
To decrease.
- “Sales dropped off sharply after the holidays.”
Similar: decline, fall

Don’t confuse it with

drop outTo leave a course, school or competition before finishing.

Drop OFF delivers something and leaves. Drop OUT quits a course or a race entirely.

The particle logic

off

Contact is broken: something detaches, leaves, or stops.

Listen + practice

Hear “drop off” spoken naturally

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Read the sentence aloud. Keep the stress on the particle and run the two words together — we’ll score every sound and flag what to work on.

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More DROP phrasal verbs

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