leave out — exclude someone
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutralcommon
To not allow someone to join an activity or group.
Say it like a native
Textbook The other children deliberately excluded him from their games.
Native The other kids left him out.
'Leave out' is the natural, hurtful everyday verb. 'Deliberately excluded' is formal.
Pattern: leave out + person
In use
- He felt hurt because his friends left him out of their weekend plans.relationships
- Sometimes, students feel left out if they are new to a class and others already know each other.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ They always leave out me.
✓ They always leave me out.
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle — 'leave me out', not 'leave out me'.
Common collocations
leave out— of the group, of the loop, the new kid, on purpose
Don't confuse it
Different from 'leave alone' (to not bother someone).
Related
- leave out (omit) — Another meaning of 'leave out' is 'omit'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.