two years later or in two years

Question

What is the opposite of 'two years ago', two years later or in two years?

For example,

The population of the town was 500 two years ago.

The population of the town is predicted to reach 2000 [two years later/in two years].

Thanks!

Feebs11 · Accepted Answer

In the context of your sentence: "in two years".

"Two years ago, the town had a population of 500; two years later it has 1000; in two years it will be 2000"

New2grammar · Answer

Amy,

From your reply, it seems like the word 'later' presents continuation from the previous sentence which makes the phrase 'two year later' refers to the current year, 2007. In contrast, 'in two years' counts from the date of writing (2007) and therefore it refers to 2009. Is my understanding correct?

If there are no preeceding sentences , do both phrases mean the same thing?

At the speed we are running, we will only reach Vegas [in two years/two years later].

Feebs11 · Answer

New2grammarAmy, ????

From your reply, it seems like the word 'later' presents continuation from the previous sentence which makes the phrase 'two year later' refers to the current year, 2007. In contrast, 'in two years' counts from the date of writing (2007) and therefore it refers to 2009. Is my understanding correct? Absolutely correct.

If there are no preeceding sentences , do both phrases mean the same thing? No: Later is a comparison - it needs something earlier to refer to. xxxx happens sometime; sometime later yyy happens.

At the speed we are running, we will only reach Vegas [in two years/two years later]. . We will only reach Las Vegas "in two years" .

..

New2grammar · Answer

I thought you were Yankee. My apologies.

Thanks for the explanation, Feebs11! I understand it now.

two years later or in two years

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