English Language & Usage Asked on May 30, 2021
Context: I want to say that the info will be shown in 3 months since approval. So, the sentence should be: You’ll see the info in/after 3 months since approval.
I have 2 concerns here:
is there a difference between "after" and "in"? I know that "after" is often used to describe past events. What about the future? Is one of the prepositions more preferred/used by native speakers?
since approval – I know that "since" is usually used with dates (since 1945) and with points of time when we use verbs (since the registration began). Can I say "since approval" without making the sentence too complicated with "since the day your profile got approved."
The main difficulty with your suggestions comes from your use of since.
Since = from a particular time in the past until a later time, or until now
Whereas
After = following in time, place, or order
{A} It is therefore inappropriate to use since to refer to a time in the future. Use after. “The info will be seen 3 months after approval.”
{B} If you say “will be seen in 3 months” it will be understood as “will be seen at the end of the 3 months that start now”.
{C} If you say “will be seen 3 months after approval” it means “at the end of the 3 months that start when approval is given”.
{D} If you say “will be seen in 3 months, after approval”, the comma is needed to introduce a phrase that qualifies “3 months”. The meaning is that it will be seen 3 months from now, and that approval is expected within that 3 months. There is also a hint that, if approval is not given, it will not be seen. If you omit the comma, “in” is not needed, and the sentence reverts to {A} above.
Answered by Anton on May 30, 2021
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