Sofia101  +  45976 Fri, 17 Sep 04 12:19 PM hi there Is it ok to say "I will be late in the office"? Also what sounds better out of office or out of the office. ? thanks Sofia101 Joined on Wed, Aug 18 2004 New Member 21

	CalifJim  +  46015 Fri, 17 Sep 04 04:52 PM I would say that "I will be late in the office" is just barely OK. It's a bit clipped, but I can imagine someone saying it to mean "I will be working late in the office / at the office." "The boss will be out of the office." sounds better than "The boss will be out of office." But as an adjective, we could have: "I set up an out-of-office message on my phone." That sounds better than "I set up an out-of-the-office message on my phone." So it really depends on how it is used in the sentence! CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 20,318 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	Sofia101  +  47584 Mon, 27 Sep 04 07:55 PM Thanks, that is very helpful. Would you use "I will be late in the office tomorrow" to indicate that you will be late (for example because you have an appointment) tomorrow? Many thanks Sofia Sofia101

	Wai_Wai  +  47587 Mon, 27 Sep 04 08:11 PM >"I will be late in the office" It is perfectly fine. I can only say it is perfect, flawless! >out of office or out of the office. A matter of personal style. Out of the office - See: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040921/latu063_1.html Out of office - See: http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4992~2429903,00.html Wai_Wai Joined on Mon, Sep 27 2004 Full Member 125 I am NOT a native English speaker. Correct me if I make any mistake. Any comment is perfectly welcome. One idea: I advocate acronyms used at a min because: - difficulty to...

	Wai_Wai  +  47588 Mon, 27 Sep 04 08:13 PM >"I will be late in the office tomorrow" to indicate that you will be late (for example because you > have an appointment) tomorrow? Why not? Wai_Wai

	CalifJim  +  47595 Mon, 27 Sep 04 08:30 PM Personally, I would not use "I will be late in the office tomorrow" with that meaning. However, it would be acceptable to do so, and many people say it that way. I prefer, "I will be late to the office tomorrow." To me, "late in the office" means "staying in the office later than usual". "late to the office" means "arriving at the office later than usual". CalifJim

	Wai_Wai  +  47689 Tue, 28 Sep 04 06:08 AM Maybe we can take the question in that way. Since I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, I will work/be late in the office in order to finish all my jobs. Wai_Wai

	anon1  +  47705 Tue, 28 Sep 04 07:18 AM Since I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, I will work/be late in the office in order to finish all my jobs. Since I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, I will work late to finish all my jobs. [my preference.] Since I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, I will work late at the office to finish all my jobs. [ok] I am not sure why, but I tend to use "at the office" as opposed to 'in the office". I will be at the office by 10:00 tomorrow. ok I will be in the office by 10:00 tomorrow. ok You can call me at the office tomorrow. ok You can call me in the office tomorrow. ok, but I prefer the one above. Those are my two cents. MountainHiker anon1 Joined on Fri, Jul 2 2004 Senior Member 2,049

	Sofia101  +  47772 Tue, 28 Sep 04 03:07 PM Thanks, your examples are very useful. Regarding "at" instead of "in", would that apply to the following sentences? "I will meet you at the hotel" "I will be at the airport at 4:30 pm" Thanks Sofia Sofia101