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You put your naughty child on time out at (in?) the end of the room for example, and then when the time of punishment is up you want them back with you. How do you address them and tell them to come and join you?

Are these two sentences: "come out of there", or simply "come out there"

  1. correct or incorrect
  2. natural or awkward

What do you personally say at home (of course if you use this kind of parental discipline)?

PS: By the way, is it at the end of the room, or in the end of the room?

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  • I'd personally say Come out, now. If it's not this specific context, I'd normally say Come here! – Damkerng T. Dec 20 '13 at 8:02
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    This might belong on Parenting but you might consider asking them if they're ready to rejoin the rest of the group. Also the typical place for time-outs is in the corner. – Jim Dec 20 '13 at 8:10
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    If I recollect well, I think many times I say "you can come out now". I feel "Come here!" has somehow a harsh tone I wouldn't use it after punishment. After all the tone you use makes a difference. – learner Dec 20 '13 at 8:11
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    It's a great idea never thought of it! However, I really should go there when asking about the best practices, seeking advices on what to do to solve specific problems. Asking what native speakers personally say is not the same as judging them. A good thought though. – learner Dec 20 '13 at 8:18
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    learner, I agree with Jim. This question is more suitable for parenting experts. As you can see on this page, there are different ideas for how to do a time out. You mentioned at the end of a room, Jim mentioned in a corner and television nannies talk of a naughty step (literally sitting on a particular step in the home). Just as there are different ideas for how to do it, there could also be different ideas for exact wordings to use, when telling a child to do it. – Tristan Dec 20 '13 at 13:16
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I would probably say:

"Okay, it's time to come out."

or:

"Your timeout is over now; come on out."

I think "come out there" sounds very awkward. "Come out of there" is passable, but I see that being used when you're sharply telling someone to come out of some enclosed area, like a large box, a swimming pool, or a doghouse:

"Joey! Come out of there! Right now!"

As for at vs in (the end of the room), most timeouts are given in the corner of a room. In fact, if you look up "in the corner" on Google images, you'll see several pictures like this one:

timeout

If the child is to stand in the corner, then the preposition is indeed in:

"Go stand in the corner."

However, if the child is supposed to stand somewhere along the middle of a wall in the room, and you wanted to call that location the "end of the room," I would probably use at:

"Go stand at the end of the room."

(For some reason, that makes me imagine a room that is more rectangular than square, where the punished child is to stand at the wall with the shorter end that is furthest away from the door – like where I've put the red ‘X’ is this blueprint:

at the end of the room

That's where I'd go stand, if you told me to stand "at the end of the room."

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  • Thank you very much @J.R. for the clear answer and the time and effort you put into. Your answers are great. I must make better questions from now on & whenever possible. – learner Dec 20 '13 at 9:11
  • Thanks for your kind words. By the way, I thought this was a very good question. – J.R.♦ Dec 20 '13 at 9:31

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