Learn English – Which ones are appropriate?: “an office staff”, “an office staff member”, “an officer”, or “to work in an office”

word-usage

In the dictionaries:

staff [countable, uncountable] the people who work for an organization

You say a staff member (or a member of staff in British English) or an
employee
, when talking about one person on the staff. ✗Don’t use a
staff
to refer to one person.

officer: someone who is in a position in an organization or the government

a prison officer

the chief medical officer

the organization's public information officer

The document must be certified by the proper officer of the state.

office staff: professional or clerical workers in an office

Let say, I am an average accountant mostly work in an office of an certain company.

Which of the followings are appropriate?

I am an office staff

I am an office staff member

I am an officer

I work in an office

Best Answer

1 and 3 are definitely wrong. 1 is wrong for the reason given in the dictionary: staff is a collective noun. 3 is wrong because "an officer" means something different than "someone who works in the office"; it has various meanings in military, legal, government, and corporate contexts, but always means someone in an official role--that is, a role with defined powers and duties. If someone just says, "I am an officer," I'd assume they're a police or military officer.

To me as a native American English speaker, 2 sounds stilted. "I am a member of the office staff" sounds good, if formal. 4 sounds totally natural, but it has a more general meaning, because you're no longer talking about a specific office, which is what you're looking for. "I work in the office of X Accounting Firm" sounds fine, as does simply, "I work for X Accounting Firm," which implies that you're a member of the office staff.

Related Topic