put off — two meanings: postpone AND discourage (Murphy Additional Exercises)
Pattern
Section titled “Pattern”put off has TWO meanings. The particle is the same; the context decides:
| Sense | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| postpone | delay to later | Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. |
| discourage | deter / make someone not want to | What put you off the job? |
Sense 1: postpone (delay)
Section titled “Sense 1: postpone (delay)”- Don’t put off your homework.
- The meeting was put off until Friday.
- She put off telling him. (delayed the telling)
Sense 2: discourage (deter)
Section titled “Sense 2: discourage (deter)”put + someone + off [something] = make them not want to do it:
- What put you off the job? (what made you not apply?)
- The bad weather put us off going out.
- Don’t let the price put you off.
- The smell put me off my food.
Passive form (common): be + put off = be discouraged:
- We were put off by the cost of tickets. (the cost discouraged us)
- I was put off by the long queue.
- Don’t be put off by the price.
Distinguish from similar “off” phrasals
Section titled “Distinguish from similar “off” phrasals”| Phrasal | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| put off | postpone / discourage | put off the meeting / put me off the job |
| put out | inconvenience / extinguish | Was I putting you out? |
| turn off | switch off / repel (sexual) | Turn off the TV. / He turned me off. |
| turn away | refuse entry | They turned us away at the door. |
| let down | disappoint | Don’t let me down. |
Test application
Section titled “Test application”Why did you decide not to apply for the job? What ___ ?
Answer: put you off — what discouraged you from applying? (deter sense)
Why not the others?
- put you out — inconvenience, not deter
- turned you off — repelled/repulsed (stronger, sexual or disgust — not “discouraged from a job”)
- turned you away — refused entry (physical)
- put you off ✓ — discouraged
Source
Section titled “Source”Raymond Murphy, English Grammar in Use (4th ed.), Additional Exercises — Phrasal verbs (Units 137-145). Ebot lesson 2026-08-29: “What ___?” (about not applying for a job) → put you off — the discourage sense of put off (vs the postpone sense in the earlier proverb card).