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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

At the moment vs, right now

A. I'm sorry, she's not here at the moment.

B. I'm sorry, she's not here right now.

1. Are both sentences above natural to say when someone calls and the person he/she is look for is not available?
2. Is there any difference between at the moment and right now?
3. If they are not natural, could you please suggest other ways of saying them?
  

Top answer

Both sound natural and normal to me, and mean the same thing. I would probably use "at the moment" for someone I didn't know and "right now" for someone I did, but that may just be a personal quirk. You'll be fine using either one.

— BarbaraPA

  • Both sound natural and normal to me, and mean the same thing.
  • I would probably use "at the moment" for someone I didn't know and "right now" for someone I did, but that may just be a personal quirk.
  • You'll be fine using either one.
  • "
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9 Answers
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Both sound natural and normal to me, and mean the same thing. I would probably use "at the moment" for someone I didn't know and "right now" for someone I did, but that may just be a personal quirk.

You'll be fine using either one.

You can also say (in American English, anyway) "She's not here just now."
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Thank you very much for your quick and helpful response.
Grammar GeekYou can also say (in American English, anyway) "She's not here just now."
Does your suggestion mean the same with my examples. If not, what does 'just' mean in your sentence? Thanks.
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"Just now" a casual way of saying "right now."

She's not here just now = She is not here at the moment = She is not here right now.
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Thanks so much for that clarification. Emotion: smile
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The difference is "right now" means this specific instant; I am typing an answer to a question on EnglishForward at 11.23am January 5th. "At the moment" means a time period; I am playing football at the moment - I am thirty minutes into a ninety minute game. For your example; "she's not here right now" suggests she could be back soon. "At the moment" suggests she's going to be gone
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AnonymousThe difference is "right now" means this specific instant; I am typing an answer to a question on EnglishForward at 11.23am January 5th. "At the moment" means a time period; I am playing football at the moment - I am thirty minutes into a ninety minute game. For your example; "she's not here right now" suggests she could be back soon. "At the moment" suggests she
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"Right now" (in British English at least) always used to mean at the exact current point in time, as in "I'm leaving right now". "At the moment" means at the present time, but extending from the past and into the future for an unspecified (but probably not large) amount of time, as in "I'm on holiday at the moment" or "I'm watching TV at the moment". So "she's not here at the moment" to my ear is
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The term "right now" has become so pervasive now in the UK, to my mind , and over quite a short period of time that I feel I'm hearing it all the time, to such an irritating extent that I've begun to scream inwardly each time I hear it - "at the moment" sounds better or "at present"
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I believe that I use "right now" as an expletive to say that I want something done immediately. For other situations, "currently", "these days", "nowadays" and even simply "now" sound better to my ear.
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