Meaning & use
call over
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To ask someone to come to you, often by speaking their name or making a gesture.
Grammar: Takes an object: call someone over. The object can go after 'over' or between 'call' and 'over'.
Patterns
- call someone over
- call over someone
The teacher called the new student over to her desk.
He called me over to show me the strange insect on the wall.
She called over the waiter to ask for the bill.
verbtransitive
To read out a list of names to check who is present.
Grammar: Takes an object: call the names over. Often used in schools or meetings.
Patterns
- call the names over
- call over the list
The coach called the team members over one by one.
At the start of each class, the teacher calls over the register.
The manager called over the names of everyone on the shift.
Word forms
| third person singular | calls over |
|---|---|
| past tense | called over |
| past participle | called over |
| -ing form | calling over |
Common combinations
- call someone over to
- She called her son over to help with the groceries.
- call the class over
- The teacher called the class over to the science table.
- call over the register
- The substitute teacher called over the register slowly.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: call over or call on?
call over vs call on
Call on means to ask someone to speak, especially in a meeting or class; call over means to ask someone to come to you.
Practice
The teacher needed to speak to Mia, so she ______.
Choose one answer.
The object pronoun 'her' must go between 'call' and 'over' in this separable phrasal verb, so 'called her over' is correct. 'Called over her' is wrong because the pronoun cannot follow 'over'; 'called over' lacks an object; 'called her on' means something different (to ask her to speak or to phone her).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “call over”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.