Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[wanderer]

Hi,

I get confused with "in" and "after" when they are used in a sentence about "time".

Say, I will go to the U.S.A. in 2 days. Why not "....after 2 days."

Take the eggs out of the boiling water after 2 minutes. Why not " .... in 2 minutes."

He told me on 1/1 that he would come to visit me in/ after a week. (It means he wanted to see me on 1/8, and now it is 4/20.) Therefore, which one should I use, in or after? Does it matter with futer tense or past tense?

Thanks a milion.

[bud]

Wanderer, that's such an interesting question! It's one of those questions that would never occur to a native speaker - we just instinctively know which one to use.

In these uses of after and in, my guess is that we use in when the time period begins right now. When the beginning is at some other time, we use after.

Thus, in your last example, I'd most likely use in. The reason is that you could look at it as a paraphrase of what "he" said, and he would have used in when he made the promise. In this sentence, though, I can see someone else choosing after because the beginning of the duration is not right now. So in this case, there isn't a clear-cut choice. (I hope that makes sense, and please understand that I am trying to reason out my instincts. It's only my guess.)

Perhaps the boiling-eggs example is a good one to shed some light. The sentence is one that you'd see in a recipe. After is the only correct choice since it is unknown when you will be boiling the eggs. However, If I were following the recipe and had just placed the eggs into the boiling water, I'd say to a friend, "Don't let me forget! I have to take them out in 2 minutes."

[wanderer]

Thanks, bud.

Your explanation is really clear.

Now I think I know what the difference is between those two preposition.

Thanks again.