Your friends want to celebrate a birthday together. You have chosen the restaurant, but the venue has not told you which evening is available. Someone asks whether to keep Friday free. A cheerful “Friday should be fine” can sound more settled than your information actually is.
A useful update separates what you know from what you are still waiting to learn. Three expressions help you describe different stages: up in the air, tentative, and confirmed. They are related, but they do not make the same claim.
“Up in the air”: an important detail is unsettled
“The date is still up in the air. We’re waiting to hear when the venue is available.”
Up in the air means not yet decided or settled. It does not mean that every part of the plan is uncertain. You might have a guest list and a restaurant while the date remains unresolved.
Name the detail rather than making the whole arrangement sound doubtful:
“The restaurant is decided, but the date is still up in the air.”
The usual pattern is something is up in the air. You can add “still” when the listener already knows that you were waiting. In everyday conversation, this expression gives a natural summary of an unresolved arrangement.
“Tentative”: a provisional choice exists
Tentative describes something provisional, subject to change. A tentative date gives people a candidate, while clearly marking that it is not final.
“Friday is our tentative date, but the venue hasn’t confirmed it.”
That is a different update from “We haven’t suggested a date yet.” Do not manufacture a tentative date merely because someone wants an answer. Use it when there really is a working option.
Tentative and up in the air can both apply to the same plan. “We have a tentative date, but the booking is still up in the air” is coherent: there is a provisional choice and an unresolved booking. The useful distinction is what each phrase tells your listener.
Practice everyday English in context
Explore situations and examples in the General English hub.
Explore General English →“Confirmed”: the relevant detail is settled
“The venue has confirmed Friday evening.”
Confirmed tells your listener that the arrangement has been verified or agreed. Specify what is confirmed and by whom when that affects their next step. A confirmed venue booking does not automatically establish whether every invited friend can attend.
Plain wording is also useful: “They’ve accepted our booking for Friday.” Choose the version that matches the evidence, rather than the version that sounds most reassuring.
Bad vs. better: limit the uncertainty
Facts: the restaurant is chosen; no date has been offered or agreed; the venue will reply tomorrow.
Bad for these facts: “Everything is tentative for Friday.”
Better: “We’ve chosen the restaurant, but the date is still up in the air. They’ll send us their available evenings tomorrow.”
The first invents Friday as a working date and makes the settled restaurant choice sound provisional. The second keeps the two facts separate and explains what will resolve the uncertainty.
A short dialogue
Nina: Should I keep Friday free for the birthday dinner?
You: The date’s still up in the air. We haven’t heard back from the restaurant.
Nina: Have you suggested Friday?
You: No. We’re waiting for their available dates. I’ll message the group when they reply tomorrow.
Nina: Okay. I won’t arrange my journey yet.
Check the distinction
You have chosen a restaurant, but no date has been proposed or agreed. Which update accurately reports those facts?
A. “We have a confirmed date for Friday.”
B. “The restaurant is chosen, but the date is still up in the air.”
Show the answer
B. It identifies the unresolved detail without inventing a date. A claims that Friday has been settled, contrary to the facts.
Practice an honest update
Write three sentences about an unfinished arrangement: one settled detail, one unresolved detail, and the next piece of information you are waiting for. Do not promise a date unless you have one.
Practice Uncertain Plans. For comparing options before you choose, read Making Decisions Without Rushing. If an existing arrangement needs to move, see Changing Plans Politely.
Browse the General English guides or return to the General English hub.