Learn English – Should I say within 1-2 weeks or in 1-2 weeks
word-usage
within 1-2 weeks or in 1-2 weeks.
Are they the same?
Which one is right?
Best Answer
Both within X-time and in X-time define a TIMESPAN which runs from the 'current' time you are talking about to a point X-after that.
Bob will finish in/within two weeks ... TIMESPAN runs from now until two weeks from now.
Bob will finish in/within two weeks after he gets an approval ... TIMESPAN runs from the point when Bob gets approval until a date two weeks later.
Last Wednesday Bob said he would finish in/within two weeks ... TIMESPAN runs from last Wednesday until a date two weeks after that—next Wednesday.
But within X-time and in X-time mean two different things.
Within X-time means that Bob will finish at some time during TIMESPAN. He will definitely finish before the end of TIMESPAN, but it may be at the very beginning of TIMESPAN or the very end of TIMESPAN or any point in between.
In X-time means that Bob will finish at the end of TIMESPAN.
In your example, where you give a range for X-time, TIMESPAN is correspondingly vague, but the vagueness only affects the location of the end of TIMESPAN; it doesn't change the meaning.
Bob will finish within one or two weeks means Bob will finish sometime between now and one or two weeks from now.
Bob will finish in one or two weeks means Bob will finish sometime between one week from now and two weeks from now.
In this case "my first" acts like a definitive article, clearly specifying a unique time frame. Using an additional indefinitive one would not work - a grammatical contradiction, you could say.
If you want to put more emphasis on the early time, you need to rewrite the sentence, e.g.:
A memorable incident happened during my very first few weeks. or
A memorable incident happened just during my first few weeks.
(Or rewrite entirely.)
In biweekly the prefix bi- applies to the week rather than to the events that occur, therefore giving the sense of “every two weeks”.
In the meaning of "occurring two times a week", the term may appear chiefly in British English to be used when the context allows to clearly differentiate (as was shown in the previous answer) between the two meanings--occurring every two weeks or twice a week.
In situations where there's a possibility of any ambiguity, for the sake of clarity, it is recommended to use "twice a week" or "once every two weeks" accordingly instead of biweekly.
In some parts of the UK to describe an event happening once every two weeks, the term "fortnightly" is also common.
Best Answer
Both within X-time and in X-time define a TIMESPAN which runs from the 'current' time you are talking about to a point X-after that.
But within X-time and in X-time mean two different things.
Within X-time means that Bob will finish at some time during TIMESPAN. He will definitely finish before the end of TIMESPAN, but it may be at the very beginning of TIMESPAN or the very end of TIMESPAN or any point in between.
In X-time means that Bob will finish at the end of TIMESPAN.
In your example, where you give a range for X-time, TIMESPAN is correspondingly vague, but the vagueness only affects the location of the end of TIMESPAN; it doesn't change the meaning.