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I want to retire in 10 years.

Posted by ESC on October 25, 2003

In Reply to: I want to retire in 10 years. posted by Lotg on October 24, 2003

: : Does the above mean I want to retire within the next ten years and therefore can be just 7 or 8 years, etc. or does it mean that I want to retire 10 years from now and not earlier? Also, would American and British English make a difference here?

: I'm Australian, so I probably don't qualify to answer the last question, although I doubt it would matter whether it was UK or US English.

: However, I think the sentence is incomplete. I think what it implies is: I want to retire in 10 years time.

: If so, that suggests at the end of a 10 year period, or at the 'time' that 10 years is up, I will retire. However, I think you've raised a good point, because if taken literally, it could be taken to mean 'within' 10 years.

I think it's unclear. To me, "I want to retire in 10 years" means I am working 10 more years and then will retire. "I want to retire WITHIN 10 years" means at the very latest I want to retire 10 years from now but it may be sooner.

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