Learn English – “I’m running late for 5 minutes.” Or “I’m running late.”

idiomsphrasestime

When using the idiomatic phrase "running late", can you add time afterwards? e.g. "I'm runnng late for 5min."

Or is it fixed as just "running late."?

Best Answer

In American English, the idiomatic wording of your sentence when including the time is:

I'm running 5 minutes late.

Note that most style guides suggest spelling out numbers less than ten, thus:

I'm running five minutes late.