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An elevator arrived and two police officers stepped off (it/of it) to search the floor.

An elevator arrived and two police officers stepped out (of it) to search the floor.

In the two sentences would it be natural to include "it" or "of it" or do they work fine/better without?

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  • If it is present, so that what precedes it is a preposition, then standard English requires out of (with of) but off (without of). Off of does occur in some non-standard varieties; so does prepositional out, but in the meaning through, not out of (eg out the door, out the window).
    – Colin Fine
    Jun 10, 2022 at 23:29

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Either construction is fine, but the omission of the implied object (it) makes it a cleaner, more modern sounding sentence.

  • An elevator arrived and two police officers stepped off to search the floor.
  • An elevator arrived and two police officers stepped out to search the floor.

Since you have already stated that the elevator had arrived, you do not need to specify what the police officers were stepping off or out of. Out and Off are interchangeable here as well.

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    I think out would be better, as the elevator is an enclosed space.
    – Kate Bunting
    Jul 17, 2020 at 7:27
  • Off works as well, because an elevator is essentially a moving shelf, as well as a moving room. Both words are commonly used.
    – Msfolly
    Jul 23, 2020 at 18:55
  • Gngram gives clear preference to "step out".
    – fev
    Jan 22, 2021 at 16:15
  • I would step out of a lift, but step off an escalator. On the other hand I would step off a bus or a train, which are enclosed, and out of a garden bed, which isn't.
    – Peter
    Oct 12, 2021 at 3:58

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