I will be (am) out of the office until Monday, Aug 5th

[AlexAD]

Hi,

I am just curious is it true that while AmE employs the form 'I will be out of the office until Monday, Aug 5th',
BrE would be 'I am out of the office until Monday, Aug 5th'. Or do I not understand that correct?
To me the present continuous form fits better since the person planned for being out of office.

Thanks,
Alex.

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes, in AmE we use "will be."

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hi,

I am just curious is it true that while AmE employs the form 'I will be out of the office until Monday, Aug 5th',
BrE would be 'I am out of the office until Monday, Aug 5th'. Or do I not understand that correct?
To me the present continuous form fits better since the person planned for being out of office.

Thanks,
Alex.

Future tense works just fine there.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm a BrE speaker and I would normally use "I will be out of the office until ...", though there is nothing wrong with "I am out of the office". However, if I used the latter, I would probably make it a standalone sentence and follow it with another sentence with the information. So I would say:

I will be out of the office until Thursday 21st September.
or
I am out of the office. I will return on Thursday 21st September.

 

[billmcd]

Hi,

I am just curious is it true that while AmE employs the form 'I will be out of the office until Monday, Aug 5th',
BrE would be 'I am out of the office until Monday, Aug 5th'. Or do I not understand that correct?
To me the present continuous form fits better since the person planned for being out of office.

Thanks,
Alex.

You could hear/read both forms in AmE.

 

[Barb_D]

Note that neither is the present continuous.

 

[AlexAD]

From what I can recollect from Murphy's, the continuous form is used when the action has been planned in advance, e.g. I am having the next week off.
And the future form is employed when the decision is being made at the moment of speech. I.e. I will go at Al's and get you a beef.

Note that neither is the present continuous.

How is that? What's the am form then?

 

[Barb_D]

Simple present.

 

[emsr2d2]

I am out of the office = simple present.
I will be out of the office = future.