Off of

Why you should avoid using "off of"

This is an entry on my list of Common Errors in English Usage. Visit the main page for direct links to additional entries.

The expression off of is quite common in colloquial English, but it is considered nonstandard. Off is a preposition that does not need the redundant addition of another preposition (of) to express this meaning:

fell off of the shelf

fell off the shelf

Related Resources

Common Errors in English Usage: Errors in diction and idiom commonly made by native speakers of English

List of Common Errors in English Usage (PDF): Printable version of the complete list

Common Grammar Errors: A list of common errors in grammar (topics like subject-verb agreement and parallelism) as distinct from usage

List of Common Errors in English Usage: PDF version