Phrasal verbs · Free lesson
Drop someone off: offer a ride to a place
Your friend needs to catch a train. You are driving past the station and can leave your friend there without joining the train journey.
Professor Scott MendozaMeaning in this lesson
drop someone off
Take someone to a place, usually in a vehicle, and leave them there.
Example
“I can drop you off at the station.”
I can take you to the station and leave you there.
The short answer
Drop someone off means take them to a place, usually by car, and leave them there. Say “I can drop you off at the station.” Keep you between drop and off, not after off.
The person arrives; your shared ride ends.
Use drop off for the transport-and-leave action. A full name can go in either position: “drop Maya off” or “drop off Maya.” A pronoun goes in the middle: “drop her off.” Add at the station to identify the stopping point.
A name has two positions; a pronoun has one.
I can drop Maya off at the station.
I can drop her off at the station.
“I can drop off Maya” is also possible. But say drop her off, not drop off her. The short pronoun belongs in the middle.
Make the offer specific
Offer the ride
I can drop you off.
Name the stopping point
I can drop you off at the station.
Add a useful time
I can drop you off at the station at nine.
Try it now
Make the ride arrangement clear.
Read all answers and explanations
You will drive Maya to the station and leave her there. Which sentence describes your offer?
I can drop Maya off at the station.Drop Maya off includes taking her there and leaving her there. Waiting or meeting does not say that you will provide the ride.
Replace Maya with her: “I can drop Maya off.”
I can drop her off.Put the object pronoun her between drop and off. Do not put it after off or before drop.
Choose the standard past form for a completed ride yesterday.
I dropped her off yesterday.The past form is dropped, with double p. Her stays in the middle, and off does not change.
Build it yourself
Tell your friend where you can stop.
Offer to take your friend to the station and leave them there. Start with I can.
Arrange all four pieces. Select a piece again to move it back.
Your offer
0 of 4 piecesYour chosen pieces will appear here.
See a model answer
I can drop you off at the station.
You stays inside drop off. At the station tells your friend exactly where the ride will end.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Is getting out of a car the same as dropping someone off?
They describe different sides of the situation. The passenger gets out. The person providing the ride drops the passenger off.
I dropped Maya off, and she got out of the car.
Can I say “drop off Maya”?
Yes. A full name or noun can come after off. A short object pronoun such as her or them must go between drop and off in this meaning.
Please drop Maya off here. Please drop her off here.
Take it into your day
Drop + person or pronoun + off + destination makes a clear transport arrangement.
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Drop you off is one expression for arranging travel. The Phrasal Verbs course includes this transport meaning and connects useful expressions to travel situations and guided practice, helping you build beyond a single ride offer.
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