Mina removes the contents of her backpack, not the backpack itself. In the last example, the water is the object and the bowl follows out of.

The idea

With a container, use empty out the bag / empty the bag out, but empty it out. With contents, use empty the water out of the bowl. Write emptied in the past and emptying with -ing.

Examples

  • Mina emptied out her backpack on the bed.
  • Mina emptied her backpack out on the bed.
  • Please empty it out before you wash it.
  • Omar emptied the drawer out to find a key.
  • Lea is emptying out the last box.
  • We emptied the water out of the bowl.

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Watch out

Emptying out removes the contents; it does not necessarily mean cleaning the container or throwing the contents away. Empty the bag is also correct without out.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct option. Mina ___ out her backpack yesterday. (emptied / emptyed)

    Show answer or example answer

    emptied

    Before -ed, the final y changes to i: emptied.

  2. Choose the correct option. Lea is ___ out the last box. (emptying / emptiing)

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    emptying

    Before -ing, y remains: emptying, not emptiing.

  3. Choose the correct option. The bag still contains some clothes. Empty ___. (it out / out it)

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    it out

    The bag becomes the pronoun it, which goes between empty and out.

Use it today

Describe a container you emptied to find something. Then explain where its contents went, using out of once and a pronoun once.