Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi Teachers,

The following sentence is found in email concerning mechanics. Is it grammatically correct? If so, please explain the usage of 'of' here. If it is not correct, what is the correct way to express it?

Arm broke off of bracket because the unit was seized.

Thanks in advance!

Leslie
_________________
Less Is Blessed

[Mister Micawber]

.
The full form would be:

The arm broke off of the bracket...

And yes, of as part of the phrasal preposition, off of, is in common use (Quirk et al call it 'informal AmE'):

He fell off of the cliff, etc.
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[hideko]

It isn't correct....shouldn't have two prepositions back to back like that...The arm broke off the bracket is correct...common mistake...maybe okay verbally but not written.
H.

[Mister Micawber]

There is a difference between 'correct' and 'informal', Hideko.

The arm broke off the bracket (formal and correct)
The arm broke off of the bracket (informal and correct)
The arm broke off away the bracket (incorrect)

"The compound preposition off of is generally regarded as informal and is best avoided in formal speech and writing." (American Heritage Dict)

"The of is often criticized as superfluous, a comment that is irrelevant because off of is an idiom. It is much more common in speech than in edited writing and is more common in American English than in British." (M-W Dict)


There are also a number of complex prepositions: apart from, up against, outside of, next to, up to, in case of, in spite of, etc.
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[leslie]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. But I wonder what the original sentence means. Does it mean "The arm broke off at a place called 'bracket'?" or what? Could you please paraphrase it in the simplest way? Thanks again.

Leslie
_________________
Less Is Blessed

[Mister Micawber]

.
The arm (an extension) of the bracket (a small supporting device) broke off (became detached) from the main unit because the latter was seized (was not moving properly or at all).
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's