Club Profiles

AFC Bournemouth club badge
Arsenal
Aston Villa Club badge
Brentford badge
Brighton and Hove Albion club badge
Burnley FC club badge
Chelsea club badge
Crystal Palace badge
Everton
Liverpool badge
Manchester City badge
Manchester United badge
Newcastle United club badge
Nottingham Forest club badge
Sheffield United badge
Spurs badge
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
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.

Leave a comment

Log in to leave a comment

Comments

PhuCuong
12/02/2024
VN
97
points

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


PhuCuong
12/02/2024 15:01
Vietnam
Arsenal
97

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
6278
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
6278

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
6278
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
6278

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

hsn's picture
hsn
06/06/2020
TR
5525
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
5525

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

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1mobeckham6510
2Alex_from_Ukraine6278
3hsn5525
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4768
6Liubomyr4408
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia71478
2Ukraine33300
3Spain28277
4Serbia27289
5Brazil23896
6Albania20578
7Vietnam19941
8Turkey19810
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United141846
2Liverpool110282
3Chelsea88561
4Arsenal85717
5Manchester City56951
6Tottenham Hotspur19169
7Newcastle United10457
8West Ham United7454
9AFC Bournemouth4458
10Crystal Palace4240

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Learn more football vocabulary.