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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’s out. (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.