This is the Business English Podcast episode 299, English prepositions for the office.
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Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.
For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.
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Hey Michelle, what's going on?
Hey, Lindsay, not too much.
Not too much. Lindsay, do you have to order our office supplies for all ears English?
Not really because we work remotely.
Although, yesterday I did have to call the mic store because we need microphone cords.
Yes, our most important tool.
Right, right, right. Exactly.
So that's true. So that counts as all the supplies, right?
The cameras, all that stuff.
So today, we're going to answer a listener question that can help you at work and in the real world to say you don't have something.
And there's another way you can use it to talk about numbers.
And this is a preposition geared episode.
So I'm excited for this one.
This is a good question.
Yeah, you know, it's really interesting because we learn all these big fancy words on this show and wherever.
But sometimes we stumble over little prepositions, right?
And it really matters that we get that right when it comes to articulating the basics in English.
So we're going to show you guys how to do that today in the office.
But first go ahead and hit that follow button on business English, right, Michelle?
Yep. Make sure that we come to you.
So you get the episodes, make it easy on yourself.
To take away the step of looking for us.
Yeah. 100%. And then, oh, 100%.
That's the title of the episode.
We want to like amend our listeners for your next episode.
After today, guys go over and find business English 278.
The title is 100%. How do I agree?
And I can't even believe that I just said that.
That's really funny. So that's how you know we're showing you real English here, right?
That's right. That's right.
Okay. So do you want me to read the listener question?
Sure. Please do. Okay. All right, guys, this question is from YouTube.
And you guys can ask questions on YouTube as well.
Yes. So this is from tree 703 733.
And this person says, hi guys, is it possible to explain out of there are so many explanations in the dictionary?
And it's hard to figure it out.
Thanks for your videos.
They are really nice and helpful.
All right, guys, yeah, definitely also go over on check and check out the all there's English podcasts, which is on YouTube.
Sure. Yeah, absolutely.
So it's a good question.
And we love your questions.
So yeah, and they're right, right?
There are a lot of definitions that are covered in the dictionary.
So today we're going to cover two useful ones, right?
Yes. We're out of focus on two today.
And I'm excited about this.
So the first one is to say you don't have something.
And this could be really useful for work.
And we're going to show you why.
So what's the first example?
Here's an example. Oh, no, the printer is out of ink.
Do we have any more? Yeah.
So the very office out of ink out of ink.
Yeah. There's no more, right?
Or you could say, okay, well, we're out of time for today.
Let's pick this up again tomorrow.
We're out of time. How do we do this?
But we don't end in a meeting.
You got it. Yeah. And we usually don't say we're out of time.
What do we usually say? I mean, how does that sound naturally in a natural accent?
We're out of time. Yeah.
So we're out of time. We're out of time for today.
Right? We're out of time for today.
That's usually what you're going to hear.
So if you're listening for we're out of time, you're not going to hear it.
Right? Important to know you're going to hear out of time.
Yes. Okay. What's the next one?
The Playstone Stairs is out of coffee.
Where should we go instead?
Yeah. Bummer. Bummer. Bummer.
Yes. Exactly. So this is good for so many things in the office.
Ordering supplies, right?
We're out of paper. Asking if something is available, sharing you have the time you have left for a meeting.
So just very useful in day-to-day office things in many different ways.
Yeah. And I want to add in a quick super high level bonus of another way we might use this phrase when we're talking about office supplies or just quantity or supplies of things by saying, you know, does the printer have or saying, do you have any coffee?
No, I'm all out. I'm all out.
Yes. That's a good one. That's very conversational.
I'm all out. Very conversational.
Yeah. But it's not too formal for business for sure.
You can use it. You can definitely use it in the business world.
Yeah. So I'm all out. So that's a bonus for today.
We're going to take a quick break and then move into the next way that we use this out of, right?
Okay. All right. So what would be the second way that our listeners need to know today?
Another great way for business is for talking about numbers and amounts.
Okay. Okay. Tell me more here, Michelle.
Okay. So for example, Lindsay, have you ever heard in the commercial where it says, nine out of ten judges recommend this toothpaste?
Yes. I always wonder about those claims.
I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, nine out of ten, right?
So nine of the dentists and then one didn't.
So right, right. Right.
It's a pretty good 90% and then or we could say, wow, this is delicious.
10 out of 10. Now, what am I, what am I doing here?
Am I trying to do math? Or what am I saying when I say 10 out of 10?
You're saying it is the most points out of the most poised possible.
So you're saying it's perfect.
And this has become very popular.
Have you, have you heard lately people saying this?
I think you have. Yeah. I'm glad you mentioned that.
It's super interesting because I think this comes from leaving online reviews, right?
Airbnb, lift, the scooter I take, we leave reviews.
Everything is a review culture right now.
Yeah. So I hear people say a lot, five stars.
Or right. I hear a lot on Instagram that influencers will say 10 out of 10 if they're trying something.
I it's interesting. It's not, it's become, I think it used to be more written.
Okay. And now it's become sort of the slang in a weird way.
I don't follow that many influencers on Instagram.
So you are in our insight into the influencer language.
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. That's good.
That's good. I'm telling it.
Yeah. So they, so they say this is great.
I recommend it 10 out of 10.
Is that what they say? Okay.
And then on the other side around stars because that's typically this is another way you hear now trendy language.
That restaurant is incredible.
Five stars. Does it mean literally you're going to go and leave a review?
Oh, no. I mean, well, that's a whole other discussion.
But this is separate from today's point.
But yeah. Right. Yeah. Um, no, it doesn't.
It just means you're saying that it's great.
Yes. You might not actually go on and leave a review.
And we should, we should be reviewing things when we like them.
Yeah. For sure. We could do another episode on trendy ways people express that they like something.
But coming back to out of, because that is the point for today.
Yes. Next one, seven out of 10 customers told us they're happy with our company service.
We need to increase that number.
So 70% not great, not terrible, but not great, right?
One, do a little better.
Yeah. And then the last one, nine times out of 10, she is ready, but it's that one time that really seems to get in our way.
Yes. Okay. Interesting.
So we've shown our listeners a lot of different ways that we would configure this grammatically, right?
Yeah. A lot of different contacts for it.
Yes. Exactly. So this is this way is good for sharing statistics, giving a score, lots of different things that you can use at work.
Yeah. I mean, is there any one of these that you like to use more frequently than the other?
I would say to I in my daily life, I wish you can also use that not in the business, business world.
But in my daily life, this is especially useful for talking about groceries.
Yes. Oh, we're out of milk.
Of course. Of course. Yeah.
Now we're out of a hundred snacks.
And that to me, this is great for building a grocery list, but it can certainly also be I think using it at somebody who handles the office supplies can get a lot out of this.
Yes. This is really functional language.
I mean, we need these prepositions to make it work in English to be fluent, right?
So let's show our listeners a role play here.
We are in a meeting. So here we go.
Okay. So let's take a look at this chart.
You can see the four times out of five, our posts brought us new clients.
Sorry. It should have said that four times.
Oh, sorry. Sorry. You can just see the four.
Oh, that you can see that four times out of five, our posts brought us new clients.
Wow. Okay. That's actually pretty impressive.
Definitely. Oh, wow. Look at the time.
Oh, wow. Okay. We're almost out of time.
So let's just start to wrap it up.
Okay. Nice. So again, we can reiterate.
We're supposed to say you can see that four out of five times our posts brought us new clients.
So good results. Very good results.
Yes. And then you said, okay, we're almost out of time.
So let's just start to wrap it up.
So that's a good way. You know, if you are the boss, especially in your leading a meeting, it's a good idea.
Then this would be a good thing to say.
Oh, we're out of time. We're almost out of time.
Let's get going. Right.
If only all work meetings were this brief Michelle.
I mean, this is a very brief.
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Good stuff.
Very brief. Yeah. We're so concise and so with here.
Yes. Yeah. You make all the important decisions.
All right. Well, that's that's good stuff.
So guys, you need to know, you know, come back to the basics.
That's what the takeaway is for today.
You know, it's good to expand your vocabulary, learn modern idioms.
But don't forget about basics like this and make sure you have this under your belt or mastered, right?
Get it. Make sure you understand how to use these before you move on to the super high level stuff.
Okay. Perfect. All right.
This was good. Well, are we out of time?
Pretty much. All right.
We are out of time for today.
When we say that a long show too.
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much for that question.
And Lindsay, I'll see you in the next one.
Take care, Michelle. Bye.
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