I agree with Soundshift's post #2. Perhaps this is just a BE usage?As an American English speaker, I've never heard it used with "off."
Could be... I've lived in the Midwest and the West Coast and this is the first time I've heard it (one of the reasons I like this forumI agree with Soundshift's post #2. Perhaps this is just a BE usage?
Those sentences sound odd to me. I don't think we have such a usage, at least in American English.How do these sentences sound to you?"I've got to learn these words off in a very short time.""You are to learn these two pages off by tomorrow morning."Thanks.
Not at all.Does the phrase sound awkward without the "off" to BE speakers?
They sound unidiomatic because the expression is "to learn something" or "to learn something (off) by heart". If you choose to include the "off", you need to follow it with "by heart". "To learn something off" is not a possibility. So:-How do these sentences sound to you?
"I've got to learn these words off in a very short time."
"You are to learn these two pages off by tomorrow morning."
Thanks.