Korean Job Discussion Forums

[detourne_me]

Please fill in the blanks here:
When you sit down to eat at the table you should __________ your hat.

I had a 2nd grade middle school student answer put off on his final, "put off" was one of the multiple choices. he even brought a dictionary in to prove he was right. I said that although it is possible grammatically correct, it is just unnatural. Since the statement is part of a natural conversation I said that the answer should be take off, as it is natural speech.

Honestly I have never heard "put off" used before in relation to clothing. It's generally meant to postpone something. When I was doublechecking the final exam for the 2nd grade teacher the option "put off" didn't even register as being slightly correct.

[Rusty Shackleford]

I hate these situations. It's wrong because it's wrong is a very unsatisfying explanation. But, it is wrong imo.

[geldedgoat]

Fill in, fill out, fill up... English has tons of verb phrases that look very similar and seem equally acceptable to non-native speakers. Simply explain to your student that it's not correct (not even grammatically), because "put off" doen't mean to remove clothing.

[Epicurus]

[Fox]

You should reinforce that we say take off and not put off, but if he really has a source that says put off is correct, it wouldn't be unreasonable to give him the point. A middle school student can't really be expected to detect errors in a dictionary, unless you explicitly stated otherwise in class.

[Cerriowen]

You should take off your hat, so you don't put off your host. While they may put up with bad manners, they won't put out for them!

It's a phrasal verb, which is right because we say it's right.

[kabrams]

[detourne_me]

thanks for the support guys!
however put off is still grammatically correct. Every dictionary I've looked at has listed put off with a number of meanings. Usually one of the meanings is; To remove (take off)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/put%20off
check out #34. part d.

anyway, He accepted my answer. I just don't want the school getting another call from an angry parent. during mid-terms the Chinese teacher let something slip and the parents ended up calling a paper.

[toadhjo]

[geldedgoat]

That usage of "put off" is used in a completely different manner.

"He put the box off the table to make more room."

"He put off the box to make more room."

The first sentence would be acceptable. The second?

Now apply that to clothes.

"He put the hat off his head."

"He put off the hat."

Neither of those sounds remotely acceptable to me. 'Put off' just isn't used to mean 'remove' when talking about clothing.

[raewon]

This might help

-------------------------------------------
put off doing sth = PUT STH OFF

put sth off - 1. to change something to a later date or time: We'll have to put the meeting off until next week. / He keeps putting off going to the dentist. 2. (especially BrE) to switch sth off: Could you put the lights off
before you leave?

SOURCE: Oxford Phrasal Verbs (Dictionary for learners of English)
-------------------------------------------

There isn't any mention of being able to use this phrasal verb with
articles of clothing.

[BrianInSuwon]

you're not testing him on the scope of the English language. you're testing him on class material. did you teach a dialogue that used "take off"?

in high school, i realized that every test question should start wtih, "According to the class lecture and course material ...."

at some point we all need to learn that answers are based on who you are talking to.