put on silent

Meaning

To change a phone's settings so it does not make any sound when receiving calls or messages. It is polite to do this in quiet places like theaters or classrooms.

Examples

• Please put your phones on silent before the movie starts.

  Please put your phones on silent before the movie starts.

• I always put my phone on silent when I am in a meeting.

  I always put my phone on silent when I am in a meeting.

• My phone was on silent, so I missed your call.

  My phone was on silent, so I missed your call.

• He forgot to put his phone on silent, and it rang during class.

  He forgot to put his phone on silent, and it rang during class.

• I need to put my phone on silent so I can focus on studying.

  I need to put my phone on silent so I can focus on studying.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ Please make your phone silent.

  ✓ Please put your phone on silent.

  While understandable, native speakers almost always use the phrasal construction 'put on silent' or 'set to silent'.

• ✗ I put my phone on silence.

  ✓ I put my phone on silent.

  We use the adjective 'silent' in this phrase, not the noun 'silence'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• During the exam, you must ___ your phone on silent.

  💡 The action verb used to change your phone's sound setting.

  Show answer

  put

• I didn't hear you because my phone was ___ silent.

  💡 The preposition used before 'silent'.

  Show answer

  on