' to run out of sth' vs 'to be out of sth'

Question

As an English learner it's quite confusing when to use these two forms of "out".
For example, have a look at the following sentences:
1) We have run out of this T-shirt model.
2) We are out of this T-shirt model.
How do native speakers differentiate these two concepts?

Answer 1

One definition of "out" is:

to the point of depletion

which means "to the point where there are none left."

It can be used idiomatically with the word "run," or just as an adjective to describe the noun that has none left.

However, to say "we have run out" implies that there were T-shirts in stock once, but now they are out.

Saying "we are out" means that there are no T-shirts in stock, and gives no clues about whether or not there were T-shirts in the past.

In your example, the object "model" is singular, so you would use the word "this" instead of "these." The store has no T-shirts left in a certain model, so you could say

The store is out of this T-shirt model

or the store could say

We are out of this T-shirt model.

Using it with the word "run" means the same thing, except with the implication that there were T-shirts before and now they are out.

We have run out of this T-shirt model.

If the store is out of multiple T-shirt models, you could use "these," and say

We have run out of these T-shirt models.

or a more natural, "active-voice" way of saying that would be:

We ran out of these T-shirt models.