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Can we take time off from school or office?



 
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How are you getting along? | The use of "trust you to...'
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Can we take time off from school or office? #1 (permalink) Sun Feb 24, 2008 21:05 pm   Can we take time off from school or office?
 

Hi

Can we take time off from school or office? For example,

Quote:
1- I was not feeling well so I took time off from school.
2- I was not feeling well so I took a half day off from school.

3- The student was not feeling well so the teacher gave him a half day off.
4- The student was not feeling well so the teacher gave some time off from his lesson.


Tom
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Can we take time off from school or office? #2 (permalink) Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:05 am   Can we take time off from school or office?
 

Hi Tom

Basically, I would use 'take time off' when the person who is taking the time off is the same person who makes (or is allowed to make) the decision to take it. In other words, 'take time off' would be inappropriate if you were referring to a youngster in public school, but would work for a university student. In addition, if you simply say "take time off", it probably would be interpreted as more than a day off.

1- I was not feeling well, so I took time off from school. This is not a likely sentence for a person who is under the age of about 18. A younger person might say "I was not feeling well, so I stayed home from school."

2- I was not feeling well, so I took half a day off from school. This is not a likely sentence for a person who is under the age of about 18. A younger person might say "I was not feeling well, so I went to the school nurse. She sent me home sick."

3/4 - The student was not feeling well, so the teacher sent him home.
(A young student.)
.
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Can we take time off from school or office? #3 (permalink) Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:15 am   Can we take time off from school or office?
 

Hi Tom,

If you absent yourself from school without permission, you are said to 'play truant'.

Alan
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Can we take time off from school or office? #4 (permalink) Sun Mar 30, 2008 19:33 pm   Can we take time off from school or office?
 

I am sorry I could not finish the conversation then.

In Pakistan it is VERY COMMON to use the word "off-time" to mention the time when the school closes daily for students and teachers, say 2:00 pm or 3:00 pm. Like the words crib (complain), bed tea and pocket money, it also seems to have been coined by us for I believe there is no noun/ word for that time. Teachers very frequently say to their students.

Quote:
OK, see me after off-time.


Please share your opinions on this. Would you ever use the word off-time?
Tom
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Joined: 30 May 2006
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Can we take time off from school or office? #5 (permalink) Sun Mar 30, 2008 20:34 pm   Can we take time off from school or office?
 

Hi Tom

Yes, that does appear to be a fairly specialized usage in your neck of the woods. I'd say a typical American equivalent of your last sentence would be this:
OK, see me after school.

We also use 'afterschool' as an adjective. For example, you might talk about a child's 'afterschool activities'.
.
Yankee
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
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