In / out: How and When to Use in English
Quick and simple lesson to help you understand grammar better.
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In / out
Main uses of IN:
• during, within, inside (place):
• during, within, inside (place):
in the box inside the box
in England within the country of England
Come in. Enter.
Get in the car. Go inside the car.
Bruno was in his office when Susie popped in. Bruno was in his office when Susie entered.
Note:
• When referring to a place, it is very important to distinguish between the use of in and to, which expresses an idea of movement or displacement towards a place:
• When referring to a place, it is very important to distinguish between the use of in and to, which expresses an idea of movement or displacement towards a place:
I am in Australia / I am going to Australia
the airport in Melbourne / the flight to Melbourne
the airport in Melbourne / the flight to Melbourne
• When referring to inward movement, into is used:
to dive into deep waters to dive and enter deep waters
• for dates, periods of time:
in the morning during the morning
in the summer during the summer
in 1933 during 1933
in two weeks (or in two weeks' time) two weeks from now
Main uses of OUT:
• outside, towards the outside:
• outside, towards the outside:
He got out of jail. He was released or he escaped from jail.
Out! Move away from here! Go outside!
• extension, dispersion:
The policemen spread out to find the criminals. The policemen dispersed to find the criminals.
• to make clear, to deduce, to understand:
Bob figured out how to use his new laptop. Bob understood how to use his new laptop.
I found out she was a millionaire so I asked for a more expensive present. I discovered she was actually a millionaire so I asked for a more expensive present.
The spy turned out to be a Kalvin Krime employee. We finally discovered the spy was a Kalvin Krime employee.
• exhaustion, total execution:
Jimmy ran out of money. Jimmy spent all his money.
Hear me out. Listen to everything I have to say.
Exercise 1
Use the words from this list to fill in the blanks in the text. Be careful! Some words may be used more than once.
all | about | to | finally | first | before | as | with | on | in
'Hey, Philip, come here. I want to tell you a story my trip China,' said Kevin. 'Hold a minute, let me finish my lunch ,' answered Philip. Several minutes passed Philip entered Kevin's office. 'Ok, tell me your story,' said Philip. ' you may know, I went China last week. I had a meeting Mrs. Mei-Tsing Lee to discuss our new production plan. And, the day I went to her office, I accidentally got the wrong bus. And, the next thing I knew, I was North Korea.' 'Is that ?' 'Well, yes.'
all | about | to | finally | first | before | as | with | on | in
'Hey, Philip, come here. I want to tell you a story my trip China,' said Kevin. 'Hold a minute, let me finish my lunch ,' answered Philip. Several minutes passed Philip entered Kevin's office. 'Ok, tell me your story,' said Philip. ' you may know, I went China last week. I had a meeting Mrs. Mei-Tsing Lee to discuss our new production plan. And, the day I went to her office, I accidentally got the wrong bus. And, the next thing I knew, I was North Korea.' 'Is that ?' 'Well, yes.'
Use the words from this list to fill in the blanks in the text. Be careful! Some words may be used more than once.
all | about | to | finally | first | before | as | with | on | in
'Hey, Philip, come here. I want to tell you a story about 1 my trip to 2 China,' said Kevin. 'Hold on 3 a minute, let me finish my lunch first 4,' answered Philip. Several minutes passed before 5 Philip finally 6 entered Kevin's office. 'Ok, tell me your story,' said Philip. 'as 7 you may know, I went to 8 China last week. I had a meeting with 9 Mrs. Mei-Tsing Lee to discuss our new production plan. And, on 10 the day I went to her office, I accidentally got on 11 the wrong bus. And, the next thing I knew, I was in 12 North Korea.' 'Is that all 13?' 'Well, yes.'
all | about | to | finally | first | before | as | with | on | in
'Hey, Philip, come here. I want to tell you a story about 1 my trip to 2 China,' said Kevin. 'Hold on 3 a minute, let me finish my lunch first 4,' answered Philip. Several minutes passed before 5 Philip finally 6 entered Kevin's office. 'Ok, tell me your story,' said Philip. 'as 7 you may know, I went to 8 China last week. I had a meeting with 9 Mrs. Mei-Tsing Lee to discuss our new production plan. And, on 10 the day I went to her office, I accidentally got on 11 the wrong bus. And, the next thing I knew, I was in 12 North Korea.' 'Is that all 13?' 'Well, yes.'
1 about: We can talk about something, but we talk to someone. 'About' is the best choice here. Example: I want to talk to you about my mother.
2 to: Kevin is telling Philip about his trip to China. 'To' is the best choice because a 'trip' carries the idea of movement. When we speak about movement, we always talk about someone or something going from one place to another. In this case 'to' indicates the destination of Kevin's trip.
3 on: 'On' is the best choice here. "Hold on" is a common expression which means 'please wait' or 'wait a minute'. It is often used when speaking on the phone. Example: Please hold on while I grab a pencil.
4 first: 'First' is the correct choice. Philip says 'let me finish my lunch first', meaning that he wants to finish his lunch 'before' Kevin tells him the story of his trip to Asia.
5 before: 'Before' is the correct answer. It tells us that time has passed before Philip enters Kevin's office. Example: We were talking about you before you arrived.
6 finally: 'Finally' means 'at last' or 'lastly'. It is the best choice here. Example: I've finally finished reading War and Peace.
7 as: 'As you may know' is an expression which introduces a fact or statement which is presumably known by one person or a group of people. Example: As you will know, your mother and I have decided to adopt a guinea pig.
8 to: Kevin is telling Philip that he went 'to' China. 'To' is the best choice because the verb 'to go' carries the idea of movement, and the preposition 'to' indicates the object or destination of this movement. Example: I'm going to London next week.
9 with: 'With' groups together objects, people and ideas. It is the best choice here to tell us 'whom' Kevin met (Mei-Tsing Lee). Example: I had a date with a guy I met online.
10 on: "On the day" is the correct choice. We use this type of expression to give specific information about a date. Example: On August first, on Monday morning, etc.
11 on: 'To get on the bus' is to board a bus. When using prepositions with modes of transportation, we often run into problems. Usually, when we are speaking about public transportation (bus, metro, airplane, etc.) we use the preposition on. But if we are talking about a car, we use in (get in the car).
12 in: Kevin tells Philip that he was in North Korea, which means that he was inside the country or within the country's borders. Example: I was in Puerto Rico when the hurricane hit.
13 all: 'Is that all?' is a question which asks if someone is finished (speaking, shopping, etc.). Example: Is that all the cake you have left?
Exercise 2
Kevin: My Dad says that Grandma didn't really die, she just went on vacation.
Taxi Driver : Why are you talking to me? Get my car please.
Taxi Driver : Why are you talking to me? Get my car please.
Kevin: My Dad says that Grandma didn't really die, she just went away 1 on vacation.
Taxi Driver : Why are you talking to me? Get out of 2 my car please.
Taxi Driver : Why are you talking to me? Get out of 2 my car please.
1 away: 'Go away' is a frequent use of 'away', which means 'leave'. Here, Kevin is saying that his Grandma has 'left on vacation'. This is the best choice here.
1 out: While someone can 'go out', it is grammatically incorrect to say 'go out on vacation'.
1 down: While someone can 'go down', it is grammatically incorrect to say 'go down on vacation'.
2 out of: 'Get out of' is synonymous with 'leave'. The taxi driver is asking Kevin 'to leave' his cab. This is the best choice here.
2 away of: 'Get away of' is grammatically incorrect. We could say, however: 'Get away from my car'.
2 down of: 'Get down of' is grammatically incorrect. We could say, however: 'Get down from my car', which would indicate that someone was 'on top of' the car.
Exercise 3
Use the following words to fill in the blanks within the text below. Be careful! Some words may be used more than once, or not at all.
over | on | in | to
Once, when she was just a child, Polly followed her parents the border into Mexico. Her father was wanted for assisting a bank robbery. He was innocent - it was his evil twin that did it - but the family saw it as an opportunity to travel all the world. Tijuana, the family was stopped by some undercover FBI agents. Fortunately, the case of mistaken identity was solved, and the Watson family enjoyed the next few weeks in beautiful, sunny Tijuana. Polly was sad when the trip was , as it was the best family vacation / FBI investigation she had ever had.
over | on | in | to
Once, when she was just a child, Polly followed her parents the border into Mexico. Her father was wanted for assisting a bank robbery. He was innocent - it was his evil twin that did it - but the family saw it as an opportunity to travel all the world. Tijuana, the family was stopped by some undercover FBI agents. Fortunately, the case of mistaken identity was solved, and the Watson family enjoyed the next few weeks in beautiful, sunny Tijuana. Polly was sad when the trip was , as it was the best family vacation / FBI investigation she had ever had.
Use the following words to fill in the blanks within the text below. Be careful! Some words may be used more than once, or not at all.
over | on | in | to
Once, when she was just a child, Polly followed her parents over 1 the border into Mexico. Her father was wanted for assisting in 2 a bank robbery. He was innocent - it was his evil twin that did it - but the family saw it as an opportunity to travel all over 3 the world. In 4 Tijuana, the family was stopped by some undercover FBI agents. Fortunately, the case of mistaken identity was solved, and the Watson family enjoyed the next few weeks in beautiful, sunny Tijuana. Polly was sad when the trip was over 5, as it was the best family vacation / FBI investigation she had ever had.
over | on | in | to
Once, when she was just a child, Polly followed her parents over 1 the border into Mexico. Her father was wanted for assisting in 2 a bank robbery. He was innocent - it was his evil twin that did it - but the family saw it as an opportunity to travel all over 3 the world. In 4 Tijuana, the family was stopped by some undercover FBI agents. Fortunately, the case of mistaken identity was solved, and the Watson family enjoyed the next few weeks in beautiful, sunny Tijuana. Polly was sad when the trip was over 5, as it was the best family vacation / FBI investigation she had ever had.
1 over: 'Over' is used here as a preposition meaning 'across' or 'from one side to the other'. 'Over' is often used to describe distance in this way. A border is the boundary or frontier between two locations.
2 in: In English we say 'assisting in (a bank robbery, a ceremony)' to indicate someone's participation in an event. The primary sense of the verb 'to assist' is 'to help' or 'to aid'.
3 over: 'Over' is used here as a preposition meaning 'around'. To travel 'all over' the world, means to travel 'to many different places'.
4 In: This is the best choice here. We often use the preposition 'in' to describe a location 'within' or 'inside' a city or country (Tijuana, in this case).
5 over: 'Over' is often used as a synonym of 'finished' when referring to something such as a 'vacation', a 'trip' or a 'game'.
Exercise 4
Use the following words to fill in the blanks in the text below. Be careful! Each word will be used more than once.
in | out
Last week, Dirty Pete finally got of jail. As soon as he stepped of his cell, Dirty Pete felt like a new man. After spending 23 years prison for using monopoly money to buy his groceries, Pete was going to change his ways. He had already scheduled an audition to act a documentary film about his own life titled 'Dirty Pete: The Man Behind The Monopoly Money'.
in | out
Last week, Dirty Pete finally got of jail. As soon as he stepped of his cell, Dirty Pete felt like a new man. After spending 23 years prison for using monopoly money to buy his groceries, Pete was going to change his ways. He had already scheduled an audition to act a documentary film about his own life titled 'Dirty Pete: The Man Behind The Monopoly Money'.
Use the following words to fill in the blanks in the text below. Be careful! Each word will be used more than once.
in | out
Last week, Dirty Pete finally got out 1 of jail. As soon as he stepped out 2 of his cell, Dirty Pete felt like a new man. After spending 23 years in 3 prison for using monopoly money to buy his groceries, Pete was going to change his ways. He had already scheduled an audition to act in 4 a documentary film about his own life titled 'Dirty Pete: The Man Behind The Monopoly Money'.
in | out
Last week, Dirty Pete finally got out 1 of jail. As soon as he stepped out 2 of his cell, Dirty Pete felt like a new man. After spending 23 years in 3 prison for using monopoly money to buy his groceries, Pete was going to change his ways. He had already scheduled an audition to act in 4 a documentary film about his own life titled 'Dirty Pete: The Man Behind The Monopoly Money'.
1 out: We use the preposition 'out' to describe movement towards the exterior of a location. In this case, 'he got out of jail' means that Dirty Pete 'left' or 'was released from' prison.
2 out: 'Out' expresses the idea of movement towards the exterior or towards the 'outside'. 'Out' is frequently followed by the preposition 'of' to express the sense of movement or location.
3 in: This is the correct choice. 'In' expresses that Dirty Pete was 'inside' prison for using monopoly money to buy his groceries. To buy 'groceries' is to buy fruit, vegetables and other foodstuffs (often from a 'grocer' or supermarket).
4 in: This is the correct choice. 'To act IN' a theatrical play or a movie expresses the sense that Pete was acting 'within' a movie.
Exercise 5
Fill in the blanks below using either in or out. Each word may be used more than once.
On a cloudy day the winter of 1923, Xavier Delavigne wanted to mix some new perfumes. He was forced to improvise because he was of his favorite ingredients: balsamic vinegar and patchouli oil. an emergency situation like this one, Xavier needed to think creatively. Xavier stepped of his laboratory and into the street. He walked all the way to Belleville, and there, a small kiosk which smelled very strongly, a man offered to sell Xavier three bottles of crocodile tears. 'Perfect!' yelled Xavier, who had always loved crocodiles as a child. Then he started to run back to Montmartre to celebrate, but he stopped abruptly when he saw that there was an old man his way. 'Are you of your mind, young man?! You can't use crocodile tears a perfume!' 'Oh', said Xavier, and walked home sadly.
On a cloudy day the winter of 1923, Xavier Delavigne wanted to mix some new perfumes. He was forced to improvise because he was of his favorite ingredients: balsamic vinegar and patchouli oil. an emergency situation like this one, Xavier needed to think creatively. Xavier stepped of his laboratory and into the street. He walked all the way to Belleville, and there, a small kiosk which smelled very strongly, a man offered to sell Xavier three bottles of crocodile tears. 'Perfect!' yelled Xavier, who had always loved crocodiles as a child. Then he started to run back to Montmartre to celebrate, but he stopped abruptly when he saw that there was an old man his way. 'Are you of your mind, young man?! You can't use crocodile tears a perfume!' 'Oh', said Xavier, and walked home sadly.
Fill in the blanks below using either in or out. Each word may be used more than once.
On a cloudy day in 1 the winter of 1923, Xavier Delavigne wanted to mix some new perfumes. He was forced to improvise because he was out 2 of his favorite ingredients: balsamic vinegar and patchouli oil. In 3 an emergency situation like this one, Xavier needed to think creatively. Xavier stepped out 4 of his laboratory and into the street. He walked all the way to Belleville, and there, in 5 a small kiosk which smelled very strongly, a man offered to sell Xavier three bottles of crocodile tears. 'Perfect!' yelled Xavier, who had always loved crocodiles as a child. Then he started to run back to Montmartre to celebrate, but he stopped abruptly when he saw that there was an old man in 6 his way. 'Are you out 7 of your mind, young man?! You can't use crocodile tears in 8 a perfume!' 'Oh', said Xavier, and walked home sadly.
On a cloudy day in 1 the winter of 1923, Xavier Delavigne wanted to mix some new perfumes. He was forced to improvise because he was out 2 of his favorite ingredients: balsamic vinegar and patchouli oil. In 3 an emergency situation like this one, Xavier needed to think creatively. Xavier stepped out 4 of his laboratory and into the street. He walked all the way to Belleville, and there, in 5 a small kiosk which smelled very strongly, a man offered to sell Xavier three bottles of crocodile tears. 'Perfect!' yelled Xavier, who had always loved crocodiles as a child. Then he started to run back to Montmartre to celebrate, but he stopped abruptly when he saw that there was an old man in 6 his way. 'Are you out 7 of your mind, young man?! You can't use crocodile tears in 8 a perfume!' 'Oh', said Xavier, and walked home sadly.
1 in: We use 'in' to describe general dates and periods: in June, in one month, in two days.
2 out: This is correct. The expression 'to be out of (potatoes)' or 'to run out of (ideas)' expresses that there are no more (potatoes or ideas). In this case, Xavier has no more balsamic vinegar or patchouli oil.
3 In: In this construction, 'in' indicates that Xavier is involved in or experiencing an 'emergency situation'. 'In' is used here to describe a particular state.
4 out: To 'step out' of a location is a common phrasal verb. Here, 'out' indicates movement towards the exterior (outside the laboratory).
5 in: In this construction, 'in' expresses the sense of the 'interior' of the kiosk where the man was located.
6 in: The expression to be 'in the way' is a common and useful idiom. In this sentence, the old man is 'blocking Xavier's path' or 'impeding or obstructing Xavier' and so we say that the old man is 'in Xavier's way'.
7 out: The idiom to be 'out of one's mind' means to be crazy, or not thinking clearly. In this case, the old man asks Xavier if he is crazy.
8 in: In this sentence, 'in a perfume' expresses where Xavier intends to put the crocodile tears. 'In' conveys the sense of movement towards the interior.
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