Learn English – The usage of the word over

adjectivesprepositions

Can we use the word over ( I think as adjective) to mean that something, which can be refilled or re-bought, is finished or depleted.

For example:

1.This battery/power unit is over. We need to plug it in.

2.The cherry juice in the bottle is over.

3.The water in the tank is almost over. We need to refill it.

4.The gas in the car is over. We need to buy gas.

Best Answer

We can't use the preposition over like this. We can use the preposition out in a different construction, to indicate that something we often replenish has finished. In this construction we we say:

  • X is out of Y.

In this construction, X is either the owner or the container:

  • We're almost out of cherry juice.
  • We're almost out of water.
  • The tank is out of water.
  • We're out of gas.
  • The car's out of gas.

We sometimes say that a battery is out, but the more usual expression is that the battery is dead.

  • The battery is out/dead.

If you want to use an adjective instead of a preposition, you could use the word empty. This doesn't always imply that the thing is refillable or reusable though:

  • The tin's empty.
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