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jaee
defer / postpone / put off They have the same meaning. I'm curious that those words are used in a casual conversation, too. 'put off' is a phrasal verb, so I guess it is commonly used in our daily lives. Then what about 'defer' and 'postpone'? 'postpone', I've heard that many people use it when we talk to each other in a casual situation, but I've never heard of someone says 'defer.' Is is okay to say like: I defer the year when I would move to another country. I don't even know if this example sentence is correct or not. Thank you so much!
Jul 24, 2020 3:30 PM
Answers · 4
Put off is very informal. Ex. I put off the conversation with my friend because it was difficult. Postpone is when you delay a scheduled activity for a later date. Ex. The game was postponed due to bad weather. Defer is used less frequently. Postpone is it’s synonym. It can mean to substitute with an alternative: Ex. I defer the answer to my colleague as she is more experienced in this area. Or... I deferred the date for writing my exam because I was too sick to write it.
July 24, 2020
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