leave behind
/ˌliːv bɪˈhaɪnd//ˌliːv bɪˈhaɪnd/·phrasal verb
01Definition
To leave something behind is to move on without it — sometimes by accident, sometimes just by outpacing it. It can be physical (you leave behind an umbrella) or figurative (you leave behind the doubts of an earlier self). Where abandon is a conscious giving-up and desert is a betrayal of a duty, leave behind is usually incidental or a matter of progress: the thing simply stays put while you carry on. You can also leave behind a legacy — the mark that remains once you have moved on.
02In use
- iIn the rush to the gate they left behind a suitcase full of presents.
- iiShe worked for years to leave behind the doubts of her early career.
- iiiThe fastest runners soon left the rest of the field behind.
03Collocations
- leave behind a legacy
- get left behind
- leave the past behind
- leave no trace behind
04Relations
05Compared
| Pair | The difference |
|---|---|
| leave behind vs abandon | choose to let go → abandon; simply move on without it, often unmeant → leave behind. |
| leave behind vs desert | a duty treacherously broken → desert; something that just doesn't come along → leave behind. |
| leave behind vs forsake | a cherished bond solemnly renounced → forsake; something that just doesn't come along → leave behind. |
| leave behind vs give up | the effort halts → give up; you move on and it stays put → leave behind. |
| leave behind vs keep | carry the thing with you → keep; move on without it → leave behind. |
Also compared with relinquish
06TOEFL & IELTS
Phrasal and flexible: literal (forget or not carry) or figurative (move past). 'Get left behind' is the common passive (students who get left behind). It also takes 'a legacy / a mark / a trace'. Keep the nuance apart from abandon (a deliberate giving-up) and keep (to bring along).
07Asked
Where does the object go in 'leave something behind'?
Usually between the two words: leave the past behind, leave a suitcase behind. The phrasal verb is separable, and everyday English strongly prefers the split — with a pronoun it is compulsory: leave it behind, never 'leave behind it'. The unsplit order is still grammatical and suits long or heavy objects: the flood left behind a metre of grey mud.
What does 'get left behind' mean?
To fail to keep up while everything else moves on — the passive turns the leaving around, so the sentence now watches the bag on the table rather than the man walking out. It has hardened into social vocabulary: students get left behind, and economists write about 'left-behind' towns and regions, where the phrase works as an adjective.
Is leaving something behind the same as abandoning it?
No — abandon is a decision; leave behind can be sheer accident or simple motion. The man in the scene above is out of the door while his coffee still steams: the bag stays not by choice but by sheer inattention. The full contrast, both animations side by side, is on the abandon vs leave behind page in the 'Compared' list above.
Do you say 'I forgot my phone at home' or 'I left my phone at home'?
Say left when you name the place. Forget covers the failure of memory, but once the location enters the sentence, English switches verbs: I forgot my phone, but I left my phone at home. Cambridge's grammar guidance draws exactly this line. You will hear 'forgot it at home' in casual American speech, but exam writing should keep the rule.
Is it 'left behind' or 'leaved behind'?
Left — leave is irregular: leave, left, left. He left his notes behind; a whole generation feels left behind. 'Leaved' exists only as a rare botanical adjective (broad-leaved trees) and is never the past of leave. And the direction word left, as in the left hand, shares the spelling by pure accident — context always separates them.
What does it mean to leave behind a legacy?
A legacy is what remains of you after you have moved on — money in a will, but far more often the figurative mark: a reformer leaves behind a legacy of fairer courts. The phrase suits any departure, not only death: a retiring coach, a closing factory and an ending era all leave one, for better or worse.