'Off', preposition or part of a phrasal verb?

Hi everyone,

I just received a new CD in my mail today. When tagging my music I always use the MusicBrainz style guidelines… but I got stuck on one particular title here.

It’s regarding the title: ‘‘Take Me Off/off This Cross’’. I’m not sure if I should capitalize the ‘off’ in this title or not. I’ve done some research online and it’s a tricky one. I don’t know if it is a preposition or if it is a part of a phrasal verb.

So… which one would be the correct one according to the MusicBrainz style guidelines?

Take Me Off This Cross
or
Take Me off This Cross

Hope someone can make it clear!

Cheers,
Ronan

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I believe Take Me off This Cross is correct in this case.

A preposition has to have an object (“Cross,” in this instance – “This” is a modifier).

If it were simply Take Me Off, “Take Off” would be a verbal phrase (or “phrasal verb” same thing), and “Off” would be capitalized. When you include “This Cross,” then “…off This Cross” becomes a prepositional phrase, so as a preposition, “off” would not be capitalized.

I found this:
Prepositional Phrase: Explanation and Examples
Phrasal Verbs: Explanation and Examples

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It’s capitalized if it’s an inseparable verbal phrase, not just any verbal phrase.

2 Likes

Ah, I forgot about that point. So even if this were a verbal phrase, it’s not inseparable, so “off” would be lower case anyway. That removes any ambiguity in this instance.