MicroEnglish.

Put off
Phrasal Verbs | B2

Listening exercises with “Put off”

to put something off = to postpone or delay something.

When you delay doing something because you’re too busy or because you don’t want to do it, you are putting it off.

If you want to specify that you are delaying something until a specific day/time, you can use the ‘to put sth off until/to + time’. e.g. I’m too tired to do my homework, so I’m going to put it off until tomorrow.

A more formal synonym for ‘to put something off’ is to procrastinate. e.g. You need to stop procrastinating and get on with your essay!

Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?

Accent: England (RP)

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I'd talking got to I couldn't any .
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Accent: Scotland

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I'm procrastinator always until the .
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Accent: Northern England

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If today's meeting, we until next week.
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10 responses

  1. Aline Avatar
    Aline

    I always put something off because I’m someone really distracted and a procrastinator , but I can’t remember if I have already had problems because of it
    There’s a similar saying in my language and it says the same thing. I try to follow it, but it’s kinda hard

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      Hi Aline! Thanks for your examples. I’m also a big procrastinator :/

      It would sound a bit more natural if you said: “I’m a procrastinator and get distracted easily”. If you describe a person as distracted (e.g. he is distracted) then you are saying that they are distracted right now, in this moment. In your example, you’re describing your personality more generally so you need a slightly different structure.

      Well done!

      Reply
  2. Tanya Avatar
    Tanya

    Well, I am also a big procrastinator 🙁 Mostly I put my work off and then have to finish it at night or the next day when I want to sleep or have another tasks 🙁 Even now instead of finishing my work I am here 🙂

    About the quote, I always joking saing don’t put off until tomorrow what you are not going to do even then 😉

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      I like your version of the quote 🙂

      A couple of small corrections:

      “when I want to sleep or have other tasks/another task”
      “I am always joking and saying…”

      Reply
  3. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Right now I can’t think of a time when I had problems because I had put something off for too long. But I struggle everyday not to put things off.

    In my opinion, I think that the habit of putting things off is more painful than the habit of getting things done on time.

    However, I don’t know, but whenever I have a big responsability, like giving a speech at a meeting, I always dream of being there with no preparation at all and everything turns out a disaster because of the habit of putting things off. So the fear of posponing things is so big that at once I start preparing my speech the next day and practice everyday so that the dream doesn’t come true.

    Although I don´t usually put off things as I mentioned earlier, I do put off some less important things. For example, right now I have to do some chores at home and I’ve been putting them off for at least 2 weeks ago, it’s quite a shame, isn’t it? Well, I promise myself I’ll do it tomorrow.

    Sadly, today, I can’t put into practice the saying: Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. So, I’m going to have to put this chore off until tomorrow.

    About this saying, we have the very same saying in Spanish: no dejes para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy. It’s completely identical.

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      Well done Mari, excellent examples.

      A few corrections:
      -‘everyday’ should be ‘every day’. Can you explain why?
      – careful with the spilling of ‘responsibility’ and ‘postponing’

      I think dreams/nightmares like yours are quite common, and maybe they’re actually a good thing if they make us get on with things we’ve been putting off 🙂

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Thank you very much for the corrections.

        I was looking into the word every and, yes! I should have used: ” I practice every day”, or each day.

        We write two words when every day means each day.

        The boys meet up every day in the park.

        On the other hand, the adjective everyday is one word. It means ‘normal’ or ‘usual’, day-to-day or daily something that is a basic part of our life.

        Don’t use the everyday dishes – it’s a special occasion.

        I’ve learnt something new today!!!

        Reply
        1. Chris Bargery Avatar
          Chris Bargery

          Exactly right, and very well explained 🙂

          Reply
  4. MILAGROS Avatar
    MILAGROS

    WHAT I´VE PUT OFF MOST IS THE IRONING ´CAUSE I HATE DOING IT.
    ONCE I PUT IT OFF UNTIL I HAD NOTHING TO WEAR.
    I USED TO PUT MANY THING OFF EVEN WHEN I HAD TIME TO DO IT UNTIL I HEARD HOW MUCH IMPORTANT IS TO BE DISCIPLINED

    Reply

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