Meaning & use
outside
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Meanings
preposition
Not inside a particular building, container, or area; beyond its limits.
Grammar: Followed by a noun phrase: outside the house. No verb is needed.
Patterns
- outside a place
- outside the city
The children are playing outside the house.
Please wait outside the office until I call you.
There is a strange noise outside the window.
preposition
Beyond the range or limits of something abstract, such as a group or category.
Grammar: Used with abstract nouns: outside my experience, outside the law.
Patterns
- outside someone's experience
- outside the law
- outside the scope of something
That kind of behavior is outside the rules of the game.
The question is outside the scope of this report.
Such problems are outside my area of expertise.
adverb
In or into the open air, not inside a building.
Grammar: No object; often used after verbs like go, eat, play.
Patterns
- go outside
- eat outside
- play outside
Let's eat outside today because the weather is nice.
The kids went outside to play in the snow.
I'll wait outside while you get ready.
nouncountable
The outer surface or part of something; the exterior.
Grammar: Usually used with the: the outside of the car. Can be countable: the outsides of the boxes.
Patterns
- the outside of something
- on the outside
The outside of the house needs painting.
From the outside, the building looks old, but inside it's modern.
The outside of the package was damaged.
adjectivebefore a noun
Coming from or belonging to a place or group that is not your own; external.
Grammar: Used before a noun: outside help, an outside chance. Not usually after a verb.
Patterns
- outside help
- an outside chance
- outside influence
We may need outside help to finish the project.
There is still an outside chance that she will win.
The company hired an outside consultant.
Common combinations
- outside the box
- Try to think outside the box to solve this problem.
- outside world
- The prisoners had little contact with the outside world.
- outside chance
- There's an outside chance of rain tomorrow.
- outside help
- They managed without any outside help.
- on the outside
- The car looks fine on the outside, but the engine is broken.
Synonyms and how they differ
- beyond
- More formal and often used with abstract limits: beyond my control.
- outdoors
- Only for the open air, not for abstract limits.
- exterior
- A noun or adjective meaning the outer part, often used for buildings.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: outside or out of?
outside vs out of
Out of means from inside to outside (go out of the room), while outside means not inside (wait outside the room).
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
Outside is a preposition and takes a direct object: outside the door. 'Outside of' is possible in American English but less common and not needed here; the other options use wrong prepositions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “outside”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.