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common errors > outside  adverb, noun


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Incorrect or non-standard usage, overuse etc

I usually have my lunch outside


The problem

 


Confusion of out and outside. Without qualification e.g. outside the room, outside the building etc. 'outside' generally means 'not in a building; outdoors':

It's so warm today. Shall we have lunch outside?
(i.e. in the garden, park, at a pavement cafe etc).

Thus, the example I usually have my lunch outside, suggests the speaker does not have lunch in a building but in the open air.




Standard English

When you mean that someone leaves a building and goes somewhere else (maybe another building, maybe outdoors), we normally use go out:

I usually go out for lunch.
Ms Chan has gone out for lunch. Would you like to leave a message?



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