Time expressions: NEXT and LAST

Question

Hi! I have a question about time expressions.

Right now, it's October 2008.
If I say "I went to London LAST JUNE" would I mean June 2008 or June 2007?
Would it be correct to say "I went to London this June" if I meant June 2008?

Similarly, lets pretend it's Monday today. if I said "I'll call you next Tuesday" would I mean Tuesday TOMORROW or Tuesday seven days from now?

Please help, I can't find the answer anywhere.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Next means the one that is closest in future time.
So if today is Tuesday, and I say next Tuesday, I mean a week from today. If today is Monday, and someone says they will call me next Tuesday, that would seem very strange. Normally I would ask them if they mean tomorrow, or Tuesday next week. The definition is::
-. in the place, time, importance, etc., nearest or immediately following: We're going to London next. This is my next oldest daughter.
-. on the first occasion to follow: when next we meet.
So if today is Monday, the closest future Tuesday is tomorrow.
Last is similar:

Last June is June 2008.
June last year is June 2007.
Another way to say it is "I went to London in June this year."

Khoff · Answer

Hi, Romanya -- Welcome to the Forum! If you search for "last" and "next," or "next Thursday," you'll find many earlier threads discussing this question. Basically, the answer is that different people mean different things when they say "next Tuesday" or "last June" and the only way to completely avoid ambiguity is to be more specific. However, I can give you some answers about your specific examples:

romanya14Similarly, lets pretend it's Monday today. if I said "I'll call you next Tuesday" would I mean Tuesday TOMORROW or Tuesday seven days from now?

I would say "I'll call you tomorrow." In this case, I would definitely assume that "next Tuesday" meant a week from now. However, if it's Saturday and you say "I'll call you next Tuesday," I would have to ask you exactly which Tuesday you meant.

romanya14Right now, it's October 2008.
If I say "I went to London LAST JUNE" would I mean June 2008 or June 2007?
Would it be correct to say "I went to London this June" if I meant June 2008?

In this case I would say "I went to London in June." If someone said "last June," I would not be entirely sure if they meant 2008 or 2007.

The only way to be sure you understand, or are understood, is to be more specific than just saying "next" or last."

Romanya14 · Answer

Thanks so much for replying. I'm still a bit confused though - I know there are other ways to state the sentence which sound more natural, but can you bear with me for a moment and assume that we MUST keep the form the way it is?

So, assuming the sentence must be in that particular form, lets use another example.

Say I graduated in June 2008. (It's still Oct 2008 today). Doesn't it sound strange to say "I graduated last June"? Doesn't it convey the impression that I graduated in 2007 instead of 2008? And not just a vague impression, but a distinct one? That's why I'm inclined to think that, in this case, the phrase 'last June' must be referring to the June of the year preceding this one, rather than the most recent June.

At any rate, assuming your first answer was correct, is it utterly wrong to say "I went to London this June" if I'm speaking in October 2008 and referring to June 2008?

Romanya14 · Answer

Hmmm....I'm aware that people mean different things when they use these phrases. However, I assume that the meaning is only ambiguous because people keep getting the usage wrong without being corrected; as a result, the wrong and right usages get confused. There must be one technically correct usage, and that's the one I'm looking for.
Thanks for your help =)

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The dictionary (www.dictionary.com) entry for next and last is the "closest" relative to the reference point.
Technically, if today is Wednesday, and I say "next Thursday", the definition indicates that it would be tomorrow.
To avoid confusion, I would write

I graduated this past June. ( makes it clear to mean June 2008)

Khoff · Answer

Hi Romanya -- you are asking about the difference between prescriptivist grammar rules, which tell people the correct way to speak, and descriptivist, which describe the way people actually speak. This is the subject of endless heated debates among linguists and teachers.

In some cases I would agree that ambiguity derives from peoples' ignorance of the "correct" meaning, but in this case I don't think there is any "correct" rule. For instance, in an earlier thread some people insisted that it was perfectly all right to use 'literally" to mean "figuratively," as in "I was so surprised I literally jumped out of my socks." No matter how many people use it that way, I can't accept it as correct. But despite the dictionary definition that Alphecca quotes, I don't know a single person who, on Wednesday, would say "next Thursday" to mean the following day, and I don't know anyone who would interpret it that way. If, on Wednesday June 1, someone said to me "I'll see you next Thursday," and then later wondered why I had not shown up on June 2, I would be exceedingly surprised. If he then complained that he was using the
correct" definition and I wasn't, I would point out that we have a perfectly good word, "tomorrow," that he could have easily used instead of the ambiguous "next Thursday."

There have beeen many earlier threads discussing this -- you can search for "next" and "last" or "next Thursday." You might also find threads that interest you by searching for "prescriptivist" and "descriptivist."

Time expressions: NEXT and LAST

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