The Phrasal Verb 'Carry Off' Explained
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'carry off' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
In this post, I will explain the phrasal verb 'carry off' for you. This is a relatively rarer phrasal verb that can be used to talk about a variety of different things including doing difficult things, winning awards and even dying! In the article, I will explain all of the different meaning of 'carry off' for you and will give you example sentences for each application to show you how and when native speakers use them. So, let's get started and find out what the phrasal verb 'carry off' is all about....
TABLE OF CONTENTSÂ (Click to jump to each one)
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THE BASICS
CARRY OFF: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Medium |
Number of meanings | 4 |
Past tense forms | Carried off / Carried off |
Separable? | Yes |
'Carry off' is a phrasal verb that is formed from the verb 'to carry' and the prepositional particle 'off'. While I know that most of you will be familiar with these words already, let's quickly just take a quick look at them to remind ourselves what they mean....
Carry - 'To carry' is a semi-regular English verb whose main meaning is 'to transport something from one place to another, often using your arms and hands'. Less commonly, we can use it to talk about having an infectious disease that you can pass to other people and about something having consequences. You may have noted that I wrote that it is a semi-regular verb and the reason for this is that both past tense forms drops the 'y' at the end of 'carry' and add 'ied'.
The groom carried his new bride into their new home.
I can't carry more than three plates at one time.
We all had to carry the coffin at the funeral.
He has been carrying the virus for many years.
A crime like this can carry a harsh punishment.
Off - The prepositional particle 'off' is an extremely common word in English that can mean a lot of different things depending on the context that it is used in. Some of the many meanings that is has include 'not functioning', 'moving away from a place' and 'being separated from something'. When used in phrasal verbs, 'off' can add different ideas like separation (take off), deactivation (turn off), departure (run off) and reduction (wear off) among others.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the meanings of the phrasal verb 'carry off'....
MEANING 1: To remove something and take it elsewhere
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To take away, to carry away, to steal, to remove, to kidnap |
Separable? | Yes |
Our first application of the phrasal verb 'carry off' refers to the general idea of 'removing something from a place' and can be used in a couple of different contexts, so let's take a look at them....
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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Firstly, I should point out that this usage is really the literal meaning of the combination of the two words 'carry' and 'off' when it is used in the sense of moving away. We therefore use it to describe when someone or something is literally carried or moved away from where the speaker is, or was, to another place.
The soldiers carried off the injured man to safety.
I wish that a knight in shining armour would carry me off into the sunset.
You should note that we often use it to talk about when people or things are removed by some kind of force and taken or transported to a different place. Often, the source of this force is a naturally occurring phenomenon such as wind or water.
The floodwaters carried off several cars.
The wave carried off John's hat.
The storm carried off parts of the fence.
The current carried off the small boat.
Strong winds carried off the roof of the shed.
In contrast, when the action of 'carrying off' is done by people, it can be used have a negative meaning and can mean 'to steal' or 'to kidnap', depending on if an object or person is the object of the action.
The thief carried off a painting from the gallery.
Someone carried off my bag while I wasn’t looking.
The dog carried the bone off into the garden.
The kidnappers carried off the victim in a van.
The eagle carried off a small animal.
Lastly, this application can be used to refer to when a person is physically 'on' something and is removed from it and taken away. There are few real-life examples of when this last usage can be found but two to note are when people are on football pitches / sports grounds and stages.
If a football player is injured during a match and can not walk, he or she will need to be carried off the pitch for medical treatment. Likewise, if an actor on a stage is picked up and carried to the backstage for any reason, we can say that they are carried off the stage.
Remember also that 'off' functions as the natural opposite of 'on', so we could technically use this with any noun for which we use 'on' in the physical sense.
Two men carried off the injured player on a stretcher.
At the end of the performance, the dancers carry the singer off stage.
On a grammatical note, although this usage is separable, it is normally used in an inseparable way and this sounds usually more natural to native speakers' ears.
MEANING 2: To successfully do something difficult
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To pull off, to succeed |
Separable? | Yes |
Let's now look at the second of the four meanings of the phrasal verb 'carry off', which is 'to successfully do something difficult'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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It is a well known concept that for people to grow and develop, they constantly need to push their boundaries and do difficult or challenging things that are outside of their comfort zone. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don't and in the times when we do succeed in doing something difficult, we can say that we "carried it off".
We can use this application to talk about a time when a person successfully tries to do something that many people would consider to be too hard to do and which therefore has a high chance of failure. For example, tt might be successfully doing a performance of something that is known to be very difficult or it may be running a marathon in under four hours when you have never done one before.
Regardless of what it is, the key idea for this application is that it is used when something that someone tries to do has a high chance of failure and many people (but not everyone) expect the person's efforts to fail.
The actress carried off the role brilliantly, even though she was nervous.
The critics said that I carried off the performance with confidence and charm.
Despite the pressure, the young actor carried the scene off perfectly.
The team carried off a very ambitious project in just three weeks.
Against all expectations, Michelle carried off the plan successfully.
Henry carried the negotiations off despite very tough conditions.
Marlene carried off the presentation even though the technology failed.
One more area that this application can be used in is in the area of fashion and style. If a person chooses to wear a bold outfit or item of clothing or have a haircut that is unusual and it suits them and makes them look good, we can again say that they "carried it off".
This would often be used in situations when the outfit etc would not suit the majority of people but it does suit this one person in particular (that is sadly never me!).
Not everyone can wear that colour, but Simone carries it off.
Luke somehow carried off the unusual outfit.
Lesley carried off the bold look with ease.
That bright red dress is really ugly but Emma carried it off effortlessly.
The prince is one of the few people who can carry off a hat like that.
It’s a risky style, but Lucy managed to carry it off.
MEANING 3: To win a prize
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To win, to clean up |
Separable? | No |
The third application of the phrasal verb 'carry off' is a rarer one that means 'to win a prize'.
Nouns commonly used with application....
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This one is quite a nice and simple meaning that is derived from the idea that when someone wins an award or trophy, they will usually take it home with them and away from the place where the ceremony took place, taking us back to the first application of removing something from a place.
Furthermore, we can also use it to talk about when a player or team wins a match or competition, especially if they are not expected to win, also nicely linking back to the second application.
My daughter carried off first prize in singing competition.
Leonardo DiCaprio carried off the award for best actor.
The team carried off the trophy after a tough final.
We managed to carry off several prizes at the running festival.
The film is expected to carry off three major awards at the ceremony.
Miranda carried off the title of champion for the second year in a row.
Our team carried off the win in the last few minutes of the match.
They carried off a narrow victory after extra time.
MEANING 4: To cause someone to die
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To kill |
Separable | Yes |
We have now arrived at our fourth and final application of the phrasal verb 'carry off' and once again please accept my apologies as we are ending on a negative meaning, which is 'to cause someone to die'.
To begin, let me clarify that for this application we are talking about natural causes of death like illnesses, diseases and old age and not other people or murderers.
This application is quite rare and not one that I am overly familiar with myself in day to day spoken English, however it is one that you may come across in literature or in the news.
On a grammatical level, we tend to use this application a lot in the passive voice to say that a person was carried off by an illness etc.
George's grandfather was carried off by a sudden illness.
The disease carried off thousands of people in the region during the post-war years.
My mother was carried off after a long struggle with cancer.
Many villagers were carried off by Covid-19 during the epidemic.
At its peak, the plague carried off entire families.
The harsh winter carried off many elderly people.
The fever carried off several soldiers.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'carry off'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'carry off'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END