Commonly confused
Write off vs Write back
“Write off” and “Write back” look alike but pull in different directions. Here is the quick way to tell them apart — with examples, the mistake to avoid, and a check.
Which one do you mean?
Write back means reply by writing. Write off means accept that something is a loss or beyond repair.
Write off
Accept that something is a loss or beyond repair
Write back
Reply by writing
write off
- 1
Accept that something is a loss or beyond repair
Correct use
“The car was written off.”
The car was accepted as beyond repair.
write back
- 1
Reply by writing
Correct use
“She wrote back the same evening.”
She replied with a written response that same evening.
Test yourself
“The car was written off.” What does it mean?
Sink In — iOS & Android
Stop mixing them up
Sink In turns confusable pairs like this into quick contrast drills, so the right particle becomes automatic instead of a guess.
- Learn the pattern behind dozens of verbs at once — not one-off translations.
- Spaced repetition (SM-2) brings each meaning back right before you forget.
- Four practice modes train recall and discrimination, not just recognition.
