in the future vs next time

0"in the future" is probably more general, and a better choice. It would mean "be careful from now on."02br
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00When you say, "next time," they may well ask, "Next time what?" (who knows? next time they play basketball? next time somebody walks by? next time 01b01u01i00I02i02u02b00 walk by?)0-

0Thanks Avangi. In fact, I took the scene from a movie and the guy who is hit by the ball uses 'in the future'. I just wanted to see if they are both suitable. Clearly not.0-

0Hi,02br
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00In such a context, both phrases are fine. However, here are a few small comments.02br
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00Strictly speaking, 'next time' could be taken to mean 'next time, but not any of the times after that'. ie just one instance.02br
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00More common than 'in 01i00the02i00 future' would be 'in future'.02

0Clive, I rarely disagree with you, but . . . are you saying that "in future" sounds better than "in 01i00the 02i00future"? "In future" sounds really, really strange to me! Maybe it's an American vs. British/Canadian thing?0-

0I'm quite sure Canadian English is similar to American English but maybe there's a small difference as English like any language varies with location. I remember clearly, I was told in this forum that "in the future" is AE while "in future" is BE. Maybe the teacher was trying to simplify things for me and there's no hard rule for this.0-

0Oh, this has come up before. When I read the first post, I remember thinking that there's a difference between American and British English on this. There was a long thread about someone who lost her handbag and whether she should be more careful in the future or in future. 02br
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00Americans will use "in the future." (Next time, and from then on.)02br
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1blockquote

01cite10khoff12cite10Maybe it's an American vs. British/Canadian thing?12blockquote

10It is. Also, you will hear "in hospital" (BrE) vs. "in the hospital" (AmE) and probably others.0-

0Yeah, "in future" should be the usual way in British English. I don't know about Canadian English, but I'm not sure what variety Clive speaks either. Maybe I'm confusing you with someone else Clive, but I think I once read somewhere that you haven't always lived in Canada... if so, maybe the variety you use and the accent you have might have been influenced by some other variety. And of course

0I hope all of you don't mind my joining in the discussion by quoting from Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners.02br
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00You use 01b00in future02b00 when saying what will happen from now on, which will be different from what has previously happened. The form 01b00in the future02b00 is sometimes used instead,