next time/in future

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A boy was jaywalking and was almost knocked down by a car.

Be careful next time when crossing the road.

Be careful when crossing the road in future.

Which sentence should I use when giving him advice? I think both sentences are correct. Am I right?

Many thanks.

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You are right. A simple-mindedly literal interpretation of "be careful next time" might be "be careful next time but you may revert to your usual carelessness thereafter", but it would be generally understood to mean "next time and all the times after that"

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Hi Contrex

Many thanks for your reply. Just to make sure I get you correct, the following sentence is also correct and means the same as the other one.

Be careful when crossing the road in future.

My heartfelt gratitude for your guidance all along.

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They mean the same thing.

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Thank you very much, Contrex.

Best wishes.

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...in the future.

Contrex likes to leave out words, sometimes too many. In this case, I think you need the article "the" in order to sound complete.

Joe(words are alive)Nation

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disagree Joe.

"in future" is Ok

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Quote:

Contrex likes to leave out words, sometimes too many.

Oh dear! What brought that on? "In future" is perfectly good British English phrase. Je Nation likes to stir up mischief, sometimes too often, and would do well to think and/or check before hitting that "reply" button.

In BrE certainly, "in future" tends to mean "from now on", "starting right now", "immediately". "In the future" tends to mean "some time in the future, but not immediately".

"In future, wash your hands after leaving the toilet", Joe's angry boss at the pizza parlour told him. "Like, uh?" grunted Joe.

"In the future, it may be possible to travel from Europe to Australia in a rocket plane."

That does not mean that you may not sometimes see the reverse!

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Hi Contrex

I agree with you and Dadpad.

Best wishes

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Quote:

Oh dear! What brought that on? "In future" is perfectly good British English phrase. Je Nation likes to stir up mischief, sometimes too often, and would do well to think and/or check before hitting that "reply" button.

I want to thank Joe for his contribution. Its important to have differing view points and discussion thereof.

I know contrex thinks hes never wrong and he does seem arrogant at times. He does not seem capable of accepting that others may have differing views, but essentially his heart is in the right place.

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dadpad wrote:

disagree Joe.

"in future" is Ok

Dadpad is right.

In fact "in future" is better here. That's the way we say it, Joe, sorry.

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I think his heart is in the right place and I think he's right about 'in future' being acceptable, but I don't think it's very conversational.

"In future" I shall watch what I say, but I would like everyone to note that the examples given by Yoong Liat had the phrase at the END of the sentences and the examples given in return by Contrex had them all at the beginning. That makes a difference to my mind:

Be careful when crossing the road in future.

sounds to me like something said by someone who speaks English as a second language. Does 'in future' even belong at the end of that sentence?

In future be careful when crossing the road.
Isn't that beginning a sentence with a preposition?

Youse guys decide.

Joe( The nuns at my school would crack my knuckles)Nation

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Yoong Liat wrote:

Hi Contrex

I agree with you and Dadpad.

Best wishes

While they are right that it's a distinct possibility, YL, Joe's addition of 'the' probably represents a more common collocation, maybe the normal neutral. 'in future' sounds more formal/official/stuffy [in a non-pejorative sense].

Wow, all that happened while I pounded out a couple sentences.

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Oh, of course I mean for NaE, YL. BrE may well be different and for that we'll have to rely on the boys from o'er the pond.

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JTT wrote:

Oh, of course I mean for NaE, YL. BrE may well be different and for that we'll have to rely on the boys from o'er the pond.

Hi JTT

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 'in future' is BrE and 'in the future' is NAmE.

So you're right about the difference between both varieties of English.

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So, in the future, when you come visit me and Mrs. Nation in New York City, we'll pay for dinner.

Joe(You may pick the restaurant)Nation

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"In the future" sounds silly to me.

In fact it IS silly.

So in future, pull your socks (sox) up.

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Joe Nation wrote:

So, in the future, when you come visit me and Mrs. Nation in New York City, we'll pay for dinner.

Joe(You may pick the restaurant)Nation

Speaking of leaving words out.

In future, Joe, when you cometo visit me and mumpad We'll pay far dinner.

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Come to visit vs. come visit shows the difference between formal and colloquial speech. (It also shows I have retained a little of my Oklahoman speech patterns even after some years here in New York.)

English has survived almost a thousand years by being approachable, by borrowing thousands of words from other languages and by ignoring any set of people who believe there is only one way to say something correctly.

Joe(Ya'll come visit now, y'hear?)Nation

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Joe Nation wrote:

Come to visit vs. come visit shows the difference between formal and colloquial speech. (It also shows I have retained a little of my Oklahoman speech patterns even after some years here in New York.)

English has survived almost a thousand years by being approachable, by borrowing thousands of words from other languages and by ignoring any set of people who believe there is only one way to say something correctly.

Joe(Ya'll come visit now, y'hear?)Nation

I do hope Contrex reads that.

English as second language students would do well to read and fully understand that as well.

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next time/in future

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