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Viceidol Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
"in 5 minutes" and "after 5 minutes"
May I ask what's the difference between "in 5 minutes" and "after 5 minutes"? For example:
It will be finished in 5 minutes.
It will be finished after 5 minutes.
All of the above means "5 minutes later, it will be finished". But is there any slight difference between them? Please give me some opinion and I'd appreciated it.
It will be finished in 5 minutes.
It will be finished after 5 minutes.
All of the above means "5 minutes later, it will be finished". But is there any slight difference between them? Please give me some opinion and I'd appreciated it.
Top answer
It will be finished in 5 minutes. It will be finished at some time during the period of 5 minutes which starts now (but most likely at almost exactly 5 minutes from now) It will be finished after 5 minutes. It will be finished when the period of 5 minutes which starts now has already passed.
- It will be finished in 5 minutes.
- It will be finished at some time during the period of 5 minutes which starts now (but most likely at almost exactly 5 minutes from now) It will be finished after 5 minutes.
- It will be finished when the period of 5 minutes which starts now has already passed.
- (But this expression is not much used.
- More likely, for this meaning, is: It'll [be / take] at least (another) 5 minutes before it's finished.
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4 Answers
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It will be finished in 5 minutes.
It will be finished at some time during the period of 5 minutes which starts now
(but most likely at almost exactly 5 minutes from now)
It will be finished after 5 minutes.
It will be finished when the period of 5 minutes which starts now has already passed.
(But this expressi
It will be finished at some time during the period of 5 minutes which starts now
(but most likely at almost exactly 5 minutes from now)
It will be finished after 5 minutes.
It will be finished when the period of 5 minutes which starts now has already passed.
(But this expressi
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Thank you, Jim!
Your explaination is more detailed than any of my grammar books!
Your explaination is more detailed than any of my grammar books!
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Thank you, CalifJim.
Yes, I think your explanations, here and in others, are very good.
As to the sentence "It will be finished after 5 minutes," I think it leaves itself to a two-way interpretation: one way is that it will be finished exactly at 5 minutes after and the other way is that it will be finished some time or any time after 5 minutes has expired -- the second way does
Yes, I think your explanations, here and in others, are very good.
As to the sentence "It will be finished after 5 minutes," I think it leaves itself to a two-way interpretation: one way is that it will be finished exactly at 5 minutes after and the other way is that it will be finished some time or any time after 5 minutes has expired -- the second way does
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For informal writing, such as on a forum post, I think your punctuation choices were perfectly fine.
In formal writing, such as for a class project, I would change just a few minor things.
... two-way interpretation: One way is that ... has expired. The second way ...
CJ
In formal writing, such as for a class project, I would change just a few minor things.
... two-way interpretation: One way is that ... has expired. The second way ...
CJ
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