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out of office vs out of the office

English translation: out of the office

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:out of office vs out of the office
Selected answer:out of the office
Entered by: Zsuzsa Berenyi

16:18 Nov 19, 2009
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Bus/Financial - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / out of office note
English term or phrase: out of office vs out of the office
I used to think that 'out of office' is an adverbial phrase that makes sense in 'out of office note' or 'out of office assistant', but as the predicate of a sentence, it should be with the definite article: 'I'm out of the office'.

Yet, I've come across the sentence 'I'm out of office' so many times that I'm not sure anymore. I'd like some proof of one or the other (perhaps both) being correct in the sentence stating that someone is not working.

Thanks a lot.

Zsuzsa
Zsuzsa Berenyi
Hungary
Local time: 22:48
out of the office
Explanation:
This would be the norm--in US and as far as I kno in UK English also.

"Out of office" could be used as an isolated phrase--say, a sign or note an employee leaves on their desk when they leave the office.

Neither phrase necessarily means the person is not working. It just means they are not in the office (i.e., they might be doing work away from the office).
Selected response from:

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 16:48
Grading comment
Thank you,Robert.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +10out of the office
Robert Forstag
4 +5out of the office
Andrew Mason
3 +1See below.
Yasutomo Kanazawa


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
out of the office


Explanation:
Your first thoughts - and paragraph - are correct. You need the article in the second example, but you can leave it out for the adverbial/adjectival phrase.

Andrew Mason
France
Local time: 22:48
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks a lot.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jutta Scherer: although I (being old-fashioned??) would spell the adjectival phrase like this: "out-of-office note"
10 mins
agree  Polangmar
1 hr
agree  JaneTranslates: Agree with you and with Jutta. I know hyphens are being used less and less these days, but I would still use them here.
2 hrs
agree  Vicky Nash: And Jutta - would always use the hyphens.
17 hrs
agree  suas888: Charslesp is absolutely right! The use of the definite article has nothing to do with UK-US English. Its purpose is the same as in "in hospital/in the hospital" or "in prison/in the prison".
1755 days
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6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
See below.


Explanation:
Out of office seems to be a set term used for emails, especially the subject for auto-replies (Out of office replies).

On the otherhand, out of the office would be something like "> I will be out of the office beginning Monday July 10th until Monday, July
> 24th traveling on business. During this period I will have limited access
> to emails. If you have an urgent issue, please contact Ralph Kaplan.

So, out of the office would be used in the context explaining to the sender that one would not be available for a certain period of time.

http://archives.free.net.ph/message/20060719.135303.b1c7ebc4...

Yasutomo Kanazawa
Japan
Local time: 05:48
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 19
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks a lot.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Polangmar
1 hr
  -> Thank you Polangmar
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +10
out of the office


Explanation:
This would be the norm--in US and as far as I kno in UK English also.

"Out of office" could be used as an isolated phrase--say, a sign or note an employee leaves on their desk when they leave the office.

Neither phrase necessarily means the person is not working. It just means they are not in the office (i.e., they might be doing work away from the office).

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 16:48
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 40
Grading comment
Thank you,Robert.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks and yes, you're right about the second part as well, the person could be working away from the office, I just wasn't thinking.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sheila Wilson: You're right about BE - only correct to leave out "the" in note form and signs etc. Plus those who recently resigned from official responsibility eg an ex-mayor saying "I've been out of office for a month"
9 mins
  -> Thank you, Sheila. And important to note the usage you cite as well, which is also valid in US.
agree  Jack Doughty: Can confirm that this is so in UK English too.
10 mins
  -> Thanks, Jack.
agree  Tony M: Yes... I think the only way it could be used without 'the' is if it were "out-of-office" in quotes like that, so it once again is read as an adjectival phrase, like "I'm tired"
12 mins
  -> Thank you, Tony.
agree  Jenni Lukac (X)
16 mins
  -> Thanks, Jenni.
agree  John Detre: Why so distrustful of the responses on Hun>Eng? :-)
36 mins
  -> Thank you
agree  Alfa Trans (X)
1 hr
  -> Thank you, Marju.
agree  Liam Hamilton
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Liam.
agree  Rolf Keiser
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Gold.
agree  Polangmar
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Pol.
agree  Charlesp
12 hrs
  -> Thanks, Charlie.
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