go off

[denismurs]

Hi everyone,

May I use the preposition "off" in the next sentence?

"The computer network has gone off so I can't send any emails this afftenoon."

Denis.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Your sentence is OK. But "off" is not a preposition there. It is an adverb.

 

[SoothingDave]

Computers and networks usually go down, not off.

 

[Peedeebee]

That's true, Dave, but I believe the down is more metaphorical than off. Off comes from the traditional phrases switch off / switch on.


I think to answer denismurs initial question, it's "yes".
(If the network is down, then something has switched off, or been switched off, hasn't it?)

 

[denismurs]

Ok. "Go down" is more colloquial.

Yes, I've understood from the exercise that there had been a failure which led up to disconnection of the network.

 

[Peedeebee]

I see you have done some other posts about similar preposition questions, denismurs. As TheParser said in one of the others, they can drive you mad. I think it's true with many prepositions.
When I was a teenager I used to get Idiom Tests from my German teacher as well as vocabulary tests. It was a great idea!

If you like this kind of thing here's a good example. In BrE we say in the plane/ on the plane/ in the train/ on the train/ in the boat/ on the boat/ on the bus/ in the car, But if you said "I'm going on holiday on the car, they would think you were clinging to the roof rack.
Why? Nobody knows. Often there are no rules. There are so many ways of saying things that you just have to learn eventually. Just keep trying them out with experienced English speakers!

 

[Skrej]

Computers and networks usually go down, not off.

I concur - 'go off' seems unnatural, although I can figure out what is meant. We usually refer to computers either going down, as Dave mentioned, or perhaps 'go offline', but I don't think I've heard of them 'going off'.

'Go off' sounds like either an explosion, or a timed countdown.

 

[MikeNewYork]

If it is a preposition, where is its object? The only thing I call a particle is the "to" in an infinitive. I am quite comfortable with "adverb" here.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm one of those people who refer to a long list of words generally as prepositions (on, off, under, above, in etc). For me, "to go off" is a phrasal verb and, again for me, that is something which consists of a verb plus a preposition. Verb = to go; preposition = off.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Phrasal verbs can also be verb plus adverb.

 

[Tdol]

If it is a preposition, where is its object? The only thing I call a particle is the "to" in an infinitive. I am quite comfortable with "adverb" here.

I think that many people call it a preposition there simply because it often is a preposition elsewhere and it saves having to worry about how it's functioning.

 

[MikeNewYork]

How a word is functioning plays a big part in what it is in that particular use.

 

[Tdol]

It is to some, but to non-native learners who have to battle with thousands of the damn things, it may not be so crucial as using off will get the right answer. This is doubly true as there are those that call it an adverb and those that call it a particle, and this category sometimes gets subdivided into prepositional and adverbial types. It's a bit like the distinction between present participles and gerunds, which interests some, but to others it is a needless layer of complexity when all they have to do is use an -ing form.

 

[MikeNewYork]

That will continue until they get new teachers. Eventually students in every field make up their own minds. As it should be.