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"I take a bite off my pizza." Or "I take a bite of my pizza." Or neither or both? I am not sure how to use bite off/of correctly.

doubleE
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    This question might be more appropriate on [ell.se], especially as you call yourself a 'Novice'. – TrevorD Oct 10 '13 at 22:46
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is more suited for ELL. – MrHen Oct 10 '13 at 23:16
  • What can ELL do with a NARQ? – Kris Oct 11 '13 at 06:34
  • This question appears to be off-topic because it is a NARQ -- there's no question per se. – Kris Oct 11 '13 at 06:35
  • There is a question and it's associated with english usage. I don't really understand putting this question or similar on hold while a simple answer can be much more useful. – doubleE Oct 12 '13 at 16:38

2 Answers2

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I understand :

I took a bite of my pizza = I had a mouthful of a piece taken from my pizza (perhaps just cut off with a knife).

I took a bite off my pizza = I had a mouthful, biting the pizza with my teeth.

(I put the sentences in the past, since it is not easy to speak with your mouth full.)

ex-user2728
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The correct phrasing is:

I take a bite of my pizza.

You can say "take a bite off" but it means something different:

Take a bite off that plate.

MrHen
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  • Many people regard the compound preposition off of as non-standard English, and prefer either off or from. – Colin Fine Oct 11 '13 at 00:10
  • Interesting. Where I learned English it would be the exact opposite; "take a bit off that plate" sounds wrong to my ear. – MrHen Oct 11 '13 at 00:25
  • I agree that take a bit off that plate might be dubious (which is why I suggested from) but off of is worse, to my ear. Would you balk at He stepped off the platform? – Colin Fine Oct 11 '13 at 00:30
  • I would still prefer stepped off of. I found some interesting thoughts on the subject here on EL&U: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/101683/difference-between-get-off-of-and-off – MrHen Oct 11 '13 at 02:28
  • I edited the question to use "off" instead of "off of" because it seems the most globally acceptable. – MrHen Oct 11 '13 at 02:31