see off — say goodbye at departure
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutraloccasional
To go with someone to the place where they are leaving, such as an airport or station, to say goodbye to them.
Say it like a native
Textbook We accompanied her to the airport to bid her farewell.
Native We went to the airport to see her off.
'See off' is the natural verb for saying goodbye at a departure; 'bid farewell' is archaic.
Pattern: see sb off
In use
- We went to the train station to see our friend off before her trip to Paris.daily life
- When my brother moved abroad for university, my whole family went to see him off at the airport. It was an emotional moment for all of us.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ We saw off her at the station.
✓ We saw her off at the station.
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle: 'see her off'.
Common collocations
see + someone + off— her off, the guests off, off at the airport, off at the station
Don't confuse it
'See off' is different from just saying goodbye at home; it means you actually go to the place where the person is leaving.