drop out
No objectThis verb takes no object at all.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: drop OUT. Saying “DROP out” 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 out” is said “dro-pout”. 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 OUT, the noun is DROPOUT. Same two words, different beat — “to drop OUT” is the action, “a dropout” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.
What it means
To leave a course, school or competition before finishing.
- “He dropped out of college in his second year.”
- “Two runners dropped out before the halfway mark.”
Similar: quit, withdraw