"In (the) future" in American English
This time two questions for Americans.
_____, our homes will be controlled by computers.
a. In the future
b. In future
c. (both a and b are correct)
_____, please be more careful with your spelling.
a. In the future
b. In future
c. (both a and b are correct)
I need as many answers as possible. And no answers from non-Americans please!
Tom
For both sentences, only options (a) sound natural.
When would "in future" be correct? It is A for both.
Tom, it's good to see you. Your appearances are all-too-rare.
Anyway, to answer your question, only options "a" would be used by a native American.
In the future, always. Unless you are using future as an adjective instead of a noun, as in "in future endeavors".
I've always heard "in the future" in these cases.
Do they often say "In future" in UK English, or maybe down in Oz?
It's definitely A for both, "In future" just sounds weird to me in those sentences.
Thanks to everyone for your (their?) replies. I'm glad so many people posted their answers.
I must say I'm quite surprised. I had no idea "in future" is wrong in American English. At some point I was taught (or read somewhere) that one should say "in future" to mean "from now on", so the second sentence should read:
"In future, please be more careful with your spelling."
Yesterday, I read on Wikipedia that Americans use "in the future" for both meanings, so I rushed to the forum to confirm it. And there you are, confirming my worst suspicions :)
Turns out it's really hard for a learner who doesn't live in England or the US to speak PURE British or American English. You inevitably end up with some sort of mid-Atlantic dialect (closer to AmE than BrE, because AmE has more content than BrE).
I get my English input mainly from the Internet, so I am in touch with both dialects (probably 90-10 in favor of American). Even with this uneven split it is hard for me to prevent British words and pronunciations from "contaminating" my American English. Sometimes this leads to nasty misunderstandings (try calling up an American store and asking "what are your opening hours?"). There is just no way to avoid this "contamination", other than looking up every word and phrase learned from a British source.
An American living in the US probably gets 99% of his input from American sources so it's much easier for them to keep their American vocabulary and pronunciation "pure".
Oh, well. The best solution would be for Americans to watch more British shows on TV. The British probably watch enough American stuff already.
<<I must say I'm quite surprised. I had no idea "in future" is wrong in American English.>>
Tom, 'in future' is not "wrong" per se, it just sounds, well, British. If you decide not to forgo using it, the American ear will simply auto-insert the word 'the'...
For instance if you say to an American:
"In future, please be more careful with your spelling."
More likely than not, the American will hear:
"In the future, please be more careful with your spelling."
Cheers
I am an American and I had no idea that "in future" as opposed to "in the future" was used anywhere.
<<I am an American and I had no idea that "in future" as opposed to "in the future" was used anywhere. >>
What's really frempt is that shortly after I made my last post, I actually heard someone here at work use "in future" and I am sure my ears didn't insert a 'the'. I work in the US.
It was the lady over the cubicle wall from me. She said it to someone on the phone (her boss I think). I swear it.
She is an American woman originally from New Jersey.
<<Turns out it's really hard for a learner who doesn't live in England or the US to speak PURE British or American English. You inevitably end up with some sort of mid-Atlantic dialect>>
Exactly. It's often impossible. If you are not in a "native" environment, what variety are you going to use? One made up of a lot of different parts, taken from different varieties you have picked up.
Example: what do you call the color of this page? If you are French, monolingual, and live in France, you just call it "blanc", and whatever other word you might want to use would just be a word you have "chosen" to use. Artificially.
So you can't speak any natural, pure, perfect variety of a language if you are not in the native environment.
Example two: fizzy drinks? I heard them called that way, but who remembers when and where? Carbonated drinks? Too technical or not? Or maybe... pop or soda? Who says what? Whenever you choose one or another, you are choosing your variety, even if you don't even know who really speaks that way.
