ワードアップ英会話 WORD UP ENGLISH CLASS | 日記 | Idioms: "be out of ~" / "run out of ~"

To "be out of" something means there is nothing remaining of that thing. This is often used with time, money, and things like food and drink that we use up completely again and again.

So, for examle:

"We're out of soy sauce." This means there is no more soy sauce remaining (so we need to buy some more).

And, at the end of my classes I sometimes say:

"I'm sorry, but we're out of time." Here, I mean that we have reached the end of our class time. There's no more time left.


You can also say "run out of" something to describe the time when the last remainder of that thing finished:

"I ran out of gas on the highway, so I had to call for help." Here, the driver used up all the gas while driving.

Or:

"When he was backpacking in Thailand, he ran out of money, so he had to call his parents and ask for more."