Out or out of?
We use out and out of to talk about position and direction. We use out as an adverb to mean ‘not in a building or an enclosed space’: [the speaker is outside talking to someone inside] Don’t come out. It’s too cold.
[a phone call]
A:
Is Billy there?
B:
No he’sout. (not at home)
Why’s the cake out? Put it back in the fridge or the chocolate will melt.
We use out of as a preposition to talk about movement from within somewhere or something, usually with a verb that expresses movement (e.g. go, come). It shows where something is or was going: You go out of the building and turn right.
He pulled a letter out of his shirt pocket, opened it and handed it to her to read.
When I reached the corner, I jumped out of my car and ran across the road.
Out is the opposite of in. Out of is the opposite of into: We use out as a verb particle in phrasal verbs: Look out there’s a car coming.
I thought I’d phone and find out how you are.
Out of: all gone
We use out of to say that something is all gone: The printer is out of ink. We need to get some soon.
[at a restaurant] I’m afraid, we’re out of soup.
You will find other meanings of out in a good learner’s dictionary.
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