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Premier League ball in the snow.

Medium: Call off

Medium: Call off

Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There are lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase to call off

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. 

Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.


Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is to call off.

Jack: Have a listen to this conversation and see if you can understand the phrase - call off.

Rich: Hey, Jack. Are you going to the match later? I’ll pick you up at about two.

Jack: Haven’t you heard? It’s been raining all day and the referee has called the match off.

Rich: It’s been called off! For a bit of rain. What are we going to do instead?


Jack: So the phrase we are looking at is to call off. It’s a phrasal verb and it means to cancel something.

Rich: Football matches are sometimes called off because of bad weather. It might have rained too much like in the example and the pitch is flooded or waterlogged.

Jack: Waterlogged means to have so much water in the ground that it can’t contain any more.


Rich: It’s a common reason to call off a match. Match called off - waterlogged pitch. 

Jack: To call off is not just used about football. We can call off lots of things. I had to call off my birthday party because I wasn’t feeling well.

Rich: Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that. Why didn’t you invite me?

Jack: It’s just an example of call off, Rich. I didn’t have a party.

Rich: I’ve called off my wedding.

Jack: That’s a good example.

Rich: It’s not an example.

Jack: Oh no! What happened?

Rich: I don’t want to talk about it.


Rich: When we’re talking about football we often hear this phrase being used in the passive.

Jack: The match was called off. The transfer deal was called off at the last minute.

Rich: To call off is a transitive verb which means it needs an object. Something is called off or you call something off like a match or a party or a wedding.

Jack: To call off is also separable which means you can put the object in different places. Listen to this:

Rich: The referee called the match off.

Jack: The referee called off the match.

Rich: The match was called off. 


Jack: There is the final whistle!

Rich: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Discuss

  • Have you ever gone to a match that was called off at the last minute?
  • What are matches usually called off for in your country?

Write your answers in the comments section below.

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Comentários

PhuCuong
12/02/2024
VN
103
points

The matches are sometimes called off in my country because of bad weather.


PhuCuong
12/02/2024 15:01
Vietnam
Arsenal
103

The matches are sometimes called off in my country because of bad weather.

Michaelsun
16/02/2022
CN
738
points

I have never gone to a match which was called off.
Football matches are called off usually in China.


Michaelsun
16/02/2022 14:23
China
Manchester United
738

I have never gone to a match which was called off.
Football matches are called off usually in China.

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
27/04/2021
BR
1512
points

Fortunately, I haven't. In my country, COVID 19 had called off a lot of championships.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
27/04/2021 20:03
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

Fortunately, I haven't. In my country, COVID 19 had called off a lot of championships.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/12/2020
UA
6570
points

Matches can usually be called off for heavy snowfalls in Ukraine in the late autumn or early spring. 


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/12/2020 08:58
Ukraine
Liverpool
6570

Matches can usually be called off for heavy snowfalls in Ukraine in the late autumn or early spring. 

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/12/2020
UA
6570
points

I've never gone to a match that was called off at the last minute


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/12/2020 08:55
Ukraine
Liverpool
6570

I've never gone to a match that was called off at the last minute

hsn's picture
hsn
06/06/2020
TR
5555
points

Generally in the winter during heavy snow on the match day. Football authority call off the matches.


hsn's picture
hsn
06/06/2020 18:09
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5555

Generally in the winter during heavy snow on the match day. Football authority call off the matches.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6570
2mobeckham6536
3hsn5555
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74670
2Ukraine33833
3Spain29384
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23388
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20437
8Turkey20093
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146566
2Liverpool111201
3Chelsea90102
4Arsenal86318
5Manchester City58708
6Tottenham Hotspur19407
7Newcastle United10560
8West Ham United7652
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Everton4533

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Learn more football vocabulary.