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All confusables

Turn off / switch off / Off

Regional usage

In standard formal English, off is normally an adjective, adverb or preposition rather than the ordinary transitive verb for stopping a device. Use turn off or switch off.

Turn off / switch off

Use when

You use the standard verb phrase meaning stop a device, light, tap or system from operating.

Example

“Please turn off the projector after the meeting.”

Off

Use when

Avoid using off alone as a transitive verb in formal standard English when turn off or switch off is meant.

Example

“Replace 'please off the projector' with 'please turn off the projector'.”

Quick check

off the light, off the tap, off the projector, please off

Usage note

Using off as a verb in this sense is familiar in Singapore English, so the guidance is about formal standard usage rather than intelligibility.

Source checked 2026-08-14 (opens in a new tab)