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Meaning trap

go off

lose enthusiasm

To stop liking, enjoying, or being interested in something or someone that you previously liked.

phrasal verbC1occasional

Don't mix these meanings

Same phrase, different job.

lose enthusiasm

To stop liking, enjoying, or being interested in something or someone that you previously liked.

go off (alarm rings or bomb explodes)

'go off' also has the more basic meaning 'alarm rings or bomb explodes'; this is the advanced sense.

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Hear it in context

Notice where the phrase sounds natural.

  • After years of drinking tea, I've really gone off it and now prefer coffee.feelings
  • Some people go off certain hobbies as they get older, preferring to spend their time in different ways.IELTS speaking

Fix the pattern

Pattern: go off + noun/gerund

WrongI went off from coffee recently.

RightI've gone off coffee recently.

'Go off + thing' directly (no 'from'); it means you used to like it but don't now.

Patterngo off + noun/gerund

Use it right

Choose the version that sounds natural in speech.

Stiff I have lost my enthusiasm for this restaurant.

Natural I've kind of gone off that place.

'Go off (something)' is the BrE way to say you no longer like it. The formal version is heavy and very un-British.

Build natural chunks

Words that usually travel with it.

  • go off + thing/person
    coffeethe ideahimthat band

Don't confuse it

This sense is figurative and refers to a change in feelings or preferences, not to food spoiling or alarms/bombs making a noise.

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