Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sejpdw]

" One hot September night, thunder shook the earth and streaks of lightning cut through the dark sky. Grandma told Mary and me to leave the house. She said that she would follow us. We didn't want to go first, but she told us to and we did as we were told. We hadn't gotten beyond the sidewalk when all at once we heard a mighty crash. Little pieces of oak twigs his us. We ran 1) out into the yard―2) out into the thicke darkness, screaming for Grandma. But she didn't come. The heavy oak tree had fallen onto the decaying house and had crashed through it! When the lightning flashed, we could see that parts of the house were still standing, but the doorway that we had come through had collapsed."

In the above passage, what are the meanings of 1)out and 2) out?

[redset]

They both mean ran outside - from indoors to outdoors. The first part says that they ran from the house, through the door and out into the yard. The second part describes how it was dark outside, so when they ran out of the house they were entering the darkness.

We use out when we're talking about someone leaving a place.