English Help Online's Blog

Today’s phrasal verb is “drop by”, and it is used when someone wants to talk about going to a place without making firm arrangements before. For example:

I think I’ll drop by the grocery store after work and buy a steak for dinner.

Is it ok if we drop by Sharon’s house? I want to return the CD I borrowed from her.

A sales representative from ABC Company dropped by our office today, but I told him we weren’t interested in their product.

I’m really glad you dropped by today because I wanted to ask you a question.

If you need to borrow anything, just drop by anytime. You don’t need to call me beforehand.

It was so good to see you today. Please feel free to drop by anytime!

So, the first three examples are inseparable with an indirect object (the grocery store, Sharon’s house, our office), and the last three example are intransitive. This means that there is no object after “drop by”. If we use “drop by” in this way, it means that we are currently at the place which the other person came to. These places are usually our homes or workplaces.