Is ChatGPT misleading me here? Which one is actually correct? "One of the passengers took off the plane in an emergency situation" or "One of the passengers took the plane off in an emergency situation" ?

I’d probably say something like “in an emergency situation, one of the passengers performed the takeoff.” I’m not sure why a passenger would put the plane in the air if theres no available pilot…so now I’m thinking you may be referring to the passenger taking control while the plane is already in the air? In that case I’d say something like “One of the passengers took control of the plane in an emergency situation” or “One of the passengers took control of the plane due to an emergency”

"Take off" in the sense of a plane leaving the runway is an intransitive verb and does not take an object. Use the noun form: "One of the passengers performed an emergency takeoff."

These are both incorrect: \- One of the passengers took off the plane in an emergency situation \- One of the passengers took the plane off in an emergency situation In both cases, the passengers would have to be wearing the plane like a shirt or a jacket to be able to take it off. For instance: \- One of the passengers took off the shirt in an emergency situation \- One of the passengers took the shirt off in an emergency situation Even so, both sound weird and are still incorrect. \-------- If you mean the passenger was in the plane when it took off, then a slight modification to the first one could work: \- One of the passengers took off in the plane in an emergency situation.

Personally I would just say "One of the passengers took control of \[piloting\] the plane in an emergency situation". Both of those, while they may or may not be gramatically correct, sound weird to me as someone from the northeast USA.

Neither are correct. Are you trying to say that one of the passengers took over as pilot and flew the plane because of an emergency? Only planes can "take off" in that sense, people can't "take off" planes. You could maybe say the passenger made the plane take off, but that also sounds weird. I don't think there's anyway you can say this if you intend to preserve "took off" as the verb.

"Take off" is intransitive here, so it sounds really weird in both sentences. I would say "one of the passengers got the plane off the ground" or "got the plane airborne" or "made the plane take off" or "got the plane into the air" or something similar.

Neither. There's no emergency where a passenger would need to control the plane and fly it away from the ground. In the event of a ground emergency they would just evacuate the plane. As for the verb usage itself, "took off" is the past tense of something the *plane* does, not the person flying it. So you would have to phrase it as something like "one of the passengers was in charge of take off" or "take off was performed by a passenger" or something like that.

Neither of these make sense. I think the closest to this would be "One of the passengers TOOK OVER the plane during an emergency" as in they took control of the plane.

Very strange response from ChatGPT and yes not just misleading but incorrect grammar. "One of the passengers flew the plane during an emergency situation".

This verb usage takes no direct object. The bad guy escaped the police and took off in the plane. Or took off with the stolen money. Oh and "take off" can also mean to leave. Take off, with a direct object, can mean to remove. And can be split, as in take the fork off of the table, or, take off your shoes.

Take off doesn't take an object, so both are incorrect.

"One of the passengers took the plane off." can only mean a passenger moved a plane that was resting on something (as in, a model plane on a table, or something).

There are two potential meanings of 'take off' in this context. Do you mean...? 1. (a plane) leaves the ground Example: The plane took off at 12 o'clock, OR 2. to remove (something) Active Voice Example: The shop assistant took expired cans off the shelf. Passive Voice Example: The drunk passenger was taken off the airplane. (by security)

Take off in the sense of "leaving the ground in flight" is an intransitive verb; it can't take a direct object. So not only are both examples bad, the explanation is also bunk

Neither. The two are equivalent and are equally wrong for the same reason. People fly planes. Planes take off. People do not take off planes. If the plane was in flight and the pilot became incapacitated, the passenger *took over* for the pilot and flew it the rest of the way. A plane takes off when it leaves the ground. So if it took off, that means it was sitting on the tarmac at the airport, and there was an emergency, and a passenger hopped in the cockpit and fired up the engines and brought it onto the runway and took off? That can’t be it.

ChatGPT is right about why the first one is not correct, but the second one has the same meaning. We say the plane performs the action of taking off. In an emergency, the plane would already be in the air. The passenger could “take *over*” the aircraft but not “take off”. If the plane is already on the ground they have no reason to attempt to fly without a pilot. Edit: you *can* say that “Bob took off on schedule” where Bob is a passenger, but it’s understood that the plane is the one actually flying. Either way, the phrasal verb “to take off” can’t be done to another object. It is intransitive, the verb action happens to the subject. (Just like “to arrive”)

Do you mean that one of the passengers was taken off the plane in an emergency situation?

A passenger can be 'taken off' the plane due to an emergency. 'Take off' in this context would be reserved for the plane itself.

The first one is more correct, the second one sounds more like the passenger stole the plane to get to their emergency

I’m having trouble understanding what you were trying to say. Do you mean the passenger *landed* the plane in an emergency situation?

Did you mean to say…’One of the passengers was taken off the plane in an emergency situation.’? Or, One of the passengers took over flying the plane in an emergency situation.

Neither one is correct. Only the plane can "take off" as in "to fly". I highly recommend not asking Chatgpt to explain grammar. It does not actually know it.

FWIW I use ChatGPT to practice Italian, and at least once per session I find it will correct something I said, but then later say the exact opposite. So annoying. Unfortunately you have to stay vigilant with GenAI because it hallucinates.

Are you using pro or plus?