Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[navi]

Is there a difference between:
1-We close in twenty minutes.
2-We are closing in twenty minutes.

Does 1 imply that every day we close at that time? Let us say it is twenty to five and every day we close at five. In this case could one use 2 or does one necessarily have to use 1?

[iitimone7]

navi - each are acceptable to use in most situations.

if you are working in a store and closing in twenty min, it is more polite to say to a customer "we are closing in twenty minutes."

in that same situation, "we close in twenty minutes" could be interpreted by the customer to be a little more threatening.

it mostly depends on the situation and the tone of the voice that makes the largest difference in the two statements - just two ways to say the same thing.

[bud]

I agree with Iitimone7, Navi. I'd just like to add that you have a remarkable talent for picking out the subtleties of the language. You are right that 1 implies that we close that time everyday. In most cases, 2 will imply the same thing. However, if we are closing at a different time today for some reason, 2 would probably be used.

But for all practical purposes, as Iitimone7 said, they are the same except that 2 sounds more polite.

[navi]

Thanks a lot Iitimone7 and Bud.