AEE 2425: Your English Will Take Off with this Phrasal Verb
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This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2425. Your English will take off with this phrasal verb.

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer,

and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA. To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven-day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward slash app.

Do you hear native speakers use the phrasal verb take off all the time? Today, we tackle the five meanings of this phrasal verb and show you how you can deploy it immediately for connection.

Thank you.

If you believe connection is the goal, tap follow and join us on the journey with five fresh and fun episodes every single week. Hit the follow button on All Ears English now, and we'll see you in the next episode. Hey there, Michelle. How's it going? Good, Lindsay. How are you? Excellent. What are we talking about on the show today?

Well, so Lindy, when did All Ears English really start to take off? Well, I don't know, Michelle. I don't want to say this because I feel bad saying it, but really early on. Don't feel bad. That's good. The first couple of months, it just started taking off. We noticed the downloads were quite high. I think people liked what we were doing right from the start in 2013. Awesome. That's great. That's great that it took off so quickly.

Lindsay, actually today we are going to spend time discussing this phrasal verb, take off. Yes. We've spoken a little bit about it in previous episodes, but today we just want to focus on it because it's so useful and you guys are going to see that today. There are a bunch of different ways you can use it. Yeah. I love when we have an entire episode dedicated to a phrasal verb because that's

this kind of unlocks a high B2, a low C1 level moving into C2, being able to drop these phrasal verbs naturally, especially with one like takeoff where it has multiple meanings. Oh my gosh. Yeah. There are a lot. Yes. There are a lot of meanings. Yeah. So, I mean, there are even more than what we're doing today. And we can always do a follow-up. We're going to focus on some of the main ones. So,

So should we go for it? Should we do the first one? Let's do it. But first, guys, don't forget to go ahead and hit that follow button. Maybe there's other things we could say. Tap the follow button. Push the follow button. Michelle, there's a lot of ways we could say it, but you need to make sure you are following all ears English.

good point lindsay yeah that way you get all the episodes you don't miss a single bonus you don't miss a sassy saturday episode right that's right yeah we love those we love hanging out with you guys on saturdays yeah for sure so hit that follow button right now to be part of our philosophy of connection not perfection okay love it all right michelle let's dive into it we're ready

Ready to go. Here we go. Flight. Okay. This is one of the most common ones, right? So the plane takes off. So yeah, what time does the plane take off, right? Interestingly, you can't say take the plane off, right? So this is one...

This is one that is inseparable, right? We can't, we can't put it on the inside. Um, so it has to be take off. Um, so for example, what time are you taking off?

Yes, I love it. What time are you taking off? I just flew last weekend over to Salt Lake City. It's a quick jaunt. That's a bonus word for today, Michelle. Jaunt. A quick jaunt from Denver over to SLC, Salt Lake City, because my stepbrother was graduating. So yeah. How was that?

It was really fun. They invited us, all the families, like grandparents, parents, and the kids were invited to a frat party. Not really a frat party, but a party in his frat house. So we had a pop-up truck. We had a band in the backyard playing games. I felt like a college kid again, Michelle. Oh, that's fun.

Oh, that's really fun. But one thing that I know that is true when you take off from different airports, it's a very different experience, right? Yes. And there's like a lot of problems now, I think, at one of the airports. Yeah, that's Newark. I know. We actually canceled our flight. We actually changed our flight. We were going to lay over in Newark for our trip to Europe and we changed that to avoid Newark airport. Yeah. Yeah. Lots of problems. Yeah. So, yeah. Another thing.

Go ahead, Michelle. Yes. Sorry. No. Yeah. The next thing you could say is the flight took off late because of the snowstorm. So, yeah, lots of delays is always right. I was watching the news last night and I felt so bad when I heard them say about about the delays and what everybody's going through. There's like, oh, there's lots of parents here with small children. And I just thought, oh, my goodness. Yes.

- Yeah. - It's hard when the plane takes off on time. I can't imagine that going through that. I hope they work this out. - Yeah, you can really empathize with them. I mean, one thing that we know is just anytime we book flights to the East Coast,

in the winter, we always expect issues, right? I mean, this is not the Newark issue. The New York issue is a bigger problem with traffic control staffing. But in the winter, we always make sure to leave an extra day for error that it won't be able to take off because of snow or de-icing the plane or all this, this whole stuff, all these things, Michelle. Yep. Yep, exactly. So, um,

And just so you know, you can also use takeoff in this context, but it's as a noun. So for example, I chew gum during takeoff so my ears don't hurt.

Oh, interesting. Is that you? Do you do that? Yeah, I used to do it more. I used to get very painful ear pain when I was flying. So I would always be chewing gum and opening my mouth. It still happens from time to time. But my son got it this time and I felt so bad because you're so helpless. There's nothing you can do. Do you ever get that?

No, it doesn't really happen to me that much, thankfully. But I know it does happen to some people. But it's interesting though that we are using this as a noun here, during takeoff, during an event. So it becomes an event. It's no longer a phrasal verb. It's a noun in that case. And it becomes one word.

Right. Instead of two. Yep. Yep. Exactly. So take off. So good to know that. So let's let's head away from flying for a second and do another example of how this is used. So this one is to take a break. Right. So, for example, like it's like to take off from work. So. Yes.

I'm going to take off tomorrow to get my eyes checked. Yeah. And it's interesting that we don't always have to say take off from work or from my job. We understand that that's what it means, right? That's true. That's true. Or what's another way that another example? Is it okay if I take off four days next week? It's an emergency. Okay. So take off four days. So take off an amount of

time, take off a day, take off Wednesday, take off Friday. Very common. Right. What do you think about this one? Can you separate this in this context? Take the day off, for example? Yeah, I think you can. So you might say something like, hey, you've been working hard. Take the day off. You need a rest. Right. Or like in these examples. So is it OK if I take off four days next week? You could have said, is it OK if I take four days off?

Right? Yes. Or I'm going to take tomorrow off. So these ones you can separate. All right. So this one is a separable phrasal verb, unlike the other one when we're flying that we can't separate it. Good to know. Good to know. Okay. Is there still another one, Michelle, that we would use another meaning of take off?

Let's do another one. So this one is to leave somewhere, sometimes when you're in a rush. So for example, okay, I think I'm going to take off. It's getting late. I love it. It's a very casual way of saying you're going to leave, right? Casual. It's not...

I don't know. There's something kind of harsh when you say, "I'm going to leave." It doesn't have to be, but sometimes there is. Kind of direct when we use the actual verb. And we've talked about this on the show before, Michelle. We can use phrasal verbs to be a little more socially integrated or socially soft. Yeah. It's true. It's true. Instead of, "I'm going to leave." Right? "I'm going to take off." Sounds much better.

Or what's another sample sentence? She took off without even saying goodbye. I think she was in a rush to pick up her dog. Okay. Yeah. What do you think about the separation here? Could you say, yeah, to me, I don't think you can really separate these ones. No, we can't. This one in this meaning of leaving it,

It's not separable, right? We would not put a pronoun or anything in between take and off here. Okay? Exactly. I have learned after so many years as an entrepreneur that speed matters when it comes to hiring, but so does quality. You need the most qualified person on your team fast. Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites.

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Okay, Michelle, is there still another way? Oh my gosh. We have two if you want, but we don't have to do both. Let's do it. Let's do this. Let's do this next one. What is this? Okay. This one is to excel quickly. So this goes back to what I asked you in the beginning. So how long did it take all those English to take off? Right? So another example could be she had a hard time at first, but once she learned the ropes, she really took off. So she excelled quickly.

Exactly. Exactly. So she took off again. This one I think is inseparable too, right? We can't, we wouldn't put anything in between took off for this meaning either. Nope. Nope. And then the last one for today, it is separable. This last one, this means removing something. So take your jacket off, stay a while. What did I put in the middle?

- Your jacket. - Yes, yes. - Right? You could say, or can you take that paper off the table

It looks a little messy. Yes. Excellent. All right. Good. Oh, my gosh, Michelle. So we've gone through, what is it, five or six different meanings for this one simple phrasal verb? Wow. Yep. Yep. Exactly. So there is a lot here, guys. We basically did five ways. So again, I'm just going to review them. So again, we did to fly. What time does your plane take off? Yeah.

What was the next one, Lindsay? To take a break. To take a break, to take time off, right? Take off from work. The next one is to leave maybe in a rush. So, oh, I'm going to take off now. I'm exhausted. Yeah. And then the next one to excel quickly, right? So, for example, to take off, to become successful. Oh, her brand really took off. Okay.

- Okay. And then the next one is to remove something, right? I'm gonna take off my sweatshirt because I'm really hot. - Yes, I love it. Oh my gosh. All right, so don't fret guys. We always have a good role play for you to show you how these all integrating come together for connection. So Michelle, what's happening here?

Well, we are friends and we're getting coffee. So let's discuss. All right. I'm so excited for you to finally go on vacation, Lindsay. Oh, same. I really needed to take some time off and get a break. You deserve it. So what time is your flight taking off? 4 p.m. So I'll probably try to leave at 1.30.

Awesome. Do you still have to take off your shoes to get through security? Make sure you don't wear your big boots, Lindsay. Yes. Oh, wow. You're right. That would take up way too much time. Thanks for the reminder. Exactly. Well, I'm glad to hear you have some time for lunch still. I thought you were going to have to take off right when we got our food. Nope. I have time. So I can't wait to hear about how your business is taking off. Yes. Finally, things are getting moving. Great. Wow.

Wow. Okay. We've got a lot of usages here. Lots of taking off. It's funny because it sounds, I mean, of course it does start to sound a little bit repetitive, but it's also so common and the meanings are different that it, I don't know. Like, I don't know if you would notice that it's being used so much. I don't know. What do you think? I think,

I think you wouldn't necessarily notice that because like we said, I mean, it's got five, six and probably there are meetings of takeoff that we didn't even cover today. We've covered the most common ones. So it is everywhere in our language, this phrase takeoff. So, all right, let's start with the first one I said.

i said oh so you said uh i'm excited for you to finally go on vacation and i said oh same i really needed to take some time off and get a break and you could have said i really needed to take off some time right or you could have just said i really needed to take off right you couldn't i needed to take off yeah you could have said that for sure yeah and then what did you say michelle

I said, so what time is your flight taking off? - This is about the airplane literally. And we really only, and that's the interesting part, right? For that, it's only really about airplanes. It's not about boats. What time does the boat take off? No. I guess the rocket ship,

Maybe or yeah, if you're going to space, if you're lucky enough to be going to space, but I have a feeling maybe one or two of our listeners, who knows? But yeah, maybe one day, but it's not about the bus. It's just about an airplane. So that kind of simplifies it a little bit for our listeners here. Okay, good. That's true. And then I said, oh, do you still have to take off your shoes to get through security? Because I'm worried because apparently Lindsay is known for her big boots.

boots and that could take a very long time to take off yes exactly I wear big boots I guess um right to remove your shoes right remove a jacket remove shoes that kind of thing um and then you said well I'm glad to hear you have some time uh

some time for lunch still, I thought you were going to have to take off right when we got our food. And in this case, I mean to leave, to exit the restaurant, the cafe. Right. Right. Because I knew you're going away. And I kind of thought we were meeting for just a really quick lunch. And so I was happy to hear that we can have

a little bit of a sit down, a little bit of a chat. - Nice, love that. - Yeah, and that's nice to acknowledge that it's a connection moment. Hey, you wanna spend more time with the person, you make it clear that you're glad they can stay, right? - That's right. And then you're showing me, okay, that you're really not in a rush by changing the topic to really start at something new. So you're saying, oh, I can't wait to hear about how your business is taking off, so excelling.

Love it. So good. It's incredible how many different meanings we went through today. But Michelle, it's integrated in our language. It's a key phrase, right? Key phrasal verb. So guys, the phrasal verb take off, try to take one of these meanings and use it today.

Okay. Yeah. Yep. Go for it. So, Lindsay, I hope that when you go on your trip, your flights take off on time. Yeah, we really hope so. Now that we changed our plans for to not go to Newark, that should help a little bit. But we'll see. We'll see what happens. Michelle, another episode our listeners could go to is 24-12 when go means stop.

said in English. Wow. Interesting. Check that out guys. I wonder what that's about. Yep. Definitely listen to that. So takeaways for today, Lindsay. Takeaway for today. I think it's a really smart approach to learn phrasal verbs like take off where essentially once you learn them, you know that they can be used essentially all over the English language in many different connection moments. So this would be a good one to focus in on. It's kind of an 80/20 approach, Michelle.

- Yeah, I agree. I think this one is just so huge. I mean, look at it, it's for daily life. This is not some sort of fancy schmancy, oh, we may never use it, right? This is very, very useful. You can start using it today. I'm sure one of these you're like, oh, well, yeah, actually I could use this one later today, right? So decide which one that is, go out, try it later today. - And again, and as we're experimenting with these phrasal verbs,

Don't forget that the goal here is always human connection. So you can still, if you mess it up, if you use it, if you separate it, when you shouldn't separate it, the person's going to understand and they're going to understand that you're trying to connect with them and that's what we're doing. Okay. That's the ultimate goal. So never forget our philosophy here, connection, not perfection. Okay. Absolutely. Love it. All right, Lindsay, thanks for chatting about this with me today. And I guess I'm going to take off. All right, Michelle, have a good one. All right. Bye. You too. Bye.

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