0

My question is quite simply stated in the subject of the post. A coworker and I were editing one of our internal webpages. We stumbled upon the following line: "This will help us in planning out our production schedule."

We had a short conversation, in which we were unable to agree. Would it be more appropriate to say "This will help us in planning our production schedule?" Or perhaps it would make no difference at all?

To clarify, the relevant section from the webpage is two sentences. The full phrase is "Thank you for alerting the ____ staff. This will help us in planning out our production schedule." The underlined segment is the name of our company.

Improve this question
7
  • 3
    To plan out is to plan completely. I think you're asking for help in the process of planning, not in help in finishing all planning.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Feb 18, 2022 at 19:38
  • I should mention the preceding sentence is something like, "Thank you for sharing that information." Therefore, the sentence I quoted in the OP is saying, "now that we have that information, we can fully plan out our schedule." That is why I lean on the side of plan out but again I'm not sure.
    – Campbell D
    Commented Feb 18, 2022 at 19:55
  • I see. You should definitely use what you are attached to. Lucky for you, plan out works, too.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Feb 18, 2022 at 20:04
  • 2
    "Plan out" as a phrasal verb sounds like a relative newcomer to me. Some dictionaries like Collins recognise it (earliest reference - 2009), with examples from British newspapers of the last decade. But the OED doesn't have anything on it at all. I consider myself someone who reads widely, but I had never seen it before.
    – WS2
    Commented Feb 18, 2022 at 20:13
  • Interesting. I doubt I'm as well read as yourself but I've definitely stumbled across it in certain books and work documents/articles. I am located in the US, perhaps "plan out" is more widely used here than the UK?
    – Campbell D
    Commented Feb 18, 2022 at 20:25

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

In fundamentals. to plan and to plan out mean the same: to plan.

This focusses attention on the use of "out". There is a parallel with phrases such as "set out", "lay out", "put out", "write out" each of which qualifies the setting. laying, writing putting and writing with "out", thereby introducing the idea of displaying what is set (before the spectator), laid, put, or written.

Hence, to plan out might be understood as to plan and to display the plan.

Even "hear out" is similar. It implies hearing all that is said, not just part. "Hear me out" means "Listen to all I say".

Improve this answer
0

This is ultimately a style question. The definition of "plan out" is "to think about and decide what you are going to do or how you are going to do something," or similar. For this usage*, "plan" by itself has no discernible difference. One might choose "plan" without "out" to keep the writing more concise, or that could be considered overkill.

This situation happens often. Many verbs are often phrasally paired with participles that do nothing to alter the original meaning:

  • Let's sketch up an overview.
  • Time to close up the shop.
  • To seek out new life and new civilizations.

You could of course also sketch an overview, close the shop, and seek new life. One could go on a crusade against the vestigial participles, but that's not ultimately a question of language rules but of style and preference.

\* Note, there are other meanings of "plan" that are not interchangeable. "I'm planning to leave tomorrow" can not be replaced by "I'm *planning out* to leave tomorrow."
Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .