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I am noticed that the word "off" is used in different structures in the same sense . So I would like to write down all possible sentences come to mind in this sense in an imaginary situation..

So which sentences are grammatically correct or colloquial? What other sentences are possible in casual way?

1.I am off.

2.I am off on my house.

3.I am off today.

4.I am off at work today.

5.I am off to work today.

6.I am off sick at work today.

7.I am off sick to work today.

8.I am going to take a week off to work on my house

9.I am having off today

10.I am taking off today to work

Thanks in advance!

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  • And I should add "I'm having a day off" and "I'm taking a day off"
    – Mrt
    Dec 4, 2014 at 21:11

2 Answers 2

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1 and 3 are correct. Although I've never really heard this used without some other context regarding work: eg "Why aren't you at work?" "Oh, I'm off"

Several of the rest are close, but don't quite work: I'll include some examples of correct sentences, and I'll include some which are quite close to what I think you were trying to say

I am home from work today

I am off work today

I'm off from work today

I've got a day off from work today

I'm home sick from work today (Not to be confused with being homesick)

I'm off sick from work today

I'm off work, sick

I am having today off

I am having today off work

I am taking today off work

Note that several of these (those which do not mention work) may only make sense if the context of the conversation makes it clear that you are talking work

This list isn't exhaustive, there are a LOT of ways to convey that you're off work, and that you're off sick.

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1, 3, 5, 8 all make perfect sense as-is. 10 makes sense if you qualify "work" with something like "housework" or "gardening;" in other words, other labor that isn't actually related to the person's career.

What you've got here is a collection of sentences that use a few completely different, unrelated phrases that happen to include the word "off" in them.

In the context of work, "off" is short for "off-duty." "Taking off work" is also a valid phrase colloquially, although the language here is less simple to define. It's a shorter version of "taking time off work," which might more clearly be said with "taking PTO (paid time off) work"; the person is taking some of their designated hours to not work and still get paid via salary that day. "Having off" isn't correct; it's simply not the proper turn of phrase. "Off sick" is just a way of qualifying "off-duty" with a reason for it.

"Off to (a place)" is a different phrase. I have no idea about its origins, but as you probably already know it simply means that you've departed (or are departing) to go to (said place).

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  • thanks for answer. I would like to say a few things to make it clearer. The fifth sentence is grammatically correct but it means completely different ? As you said , I knew, it means going to somewhere. And we can not say " I am off on my house" or " I am off to work"(in this sense) but we can say " I am off to work on my house " Is it correct?
    – Mrt
    Dec 4, 2014 at 21:34
  • "I am off to work on my house" is a grammatical sentence that makes perfect sense, but it may not mean what you think it means. The person would say this if they're leaving, for example, a friend's house, so that they can go home and actually perform house work or some other labor you might perform at home. He might be fixing some part of his house that got destroyed in a recent storm, or touching up on the paint. "I am off on my house" not only doesn't make sense, it's contradictory ("off on" would definitely confuse most native speakers)
    – Crazy Eyes
    Dec 4, 2014 at 21:46
  • yep I got you.Work means like chores as you said.Thank you for making it clear.I also would like to ask that is there any difference between "I am off work" and " I am off from work"
    – Mrt
    Dec 4, 2014 at 22:00
  • There isn't any difference between those two phrases except the word "from." They mean the same thing.
    – Crazy Eyes
    Dec 4, 2014 at 22:29

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