in about ? about in ?

[nakayama_kun]

Hi all
Sorry if this question has been posted before. I would like ask this to
for native English speaker.
I understand that　二週間後に会いましょう is "See you in two weeks" not "See you two weeks later",
but if it's "だいたい二週間後にあいましょう" I wanna express the word
だいたい(about), would it be " see you in about two weeks" ? or " see you about in two weeks" or you don't use the word " about" ?


I am a little confused, please help me out. big thanks!
Nakayama_kun

[Glenn]

I would say "see you in about two weeks." I've never heard "see you about in two weeks."

I think since "about" modifies the head of the prepositional phrase it has to come after the preposition. At least that's my initial reaction.

[euske]

I'm a Japanese but I agree with Glenn. If you say "see you about in two weeks"
it would translate like "二週間後にだいたい会いましょう", which sounds weird, right?

[Glenn]

Yeah, after I thought about it it seems like it could work grammatically, but I think any native English speaker you say that (that = "about in two weeks") to would find it strange. I'm sure they'd understand it, though.

[Elizabeth]

I've had this whole thing explained before, but it's still very confusing for me as well (the English is clearly wrong....so in Japanese that is :p).

あと、二週間で会いましょうか or ご二週間であいましょうか（？）は、
　「Shall we meet two weeks later」ってことですか？？

[euske]

あと、二週間で会いましょうか or ご二週間であいましょうか（？）は、
　「Shall we meet two weeks later」ってことですか？？
はい。
「二週間後に会いましょう」 sounds more natural.
で can be used for locations, but not for dates or times.
But you can use で when you make an appointment 「二週間後でお願いします」「じゃあ、二週間後で」.
In this case で is instrumental, not locative.

BTW, Japanese people (including me) tend to take "in" as strictly "within".
So when I first heard "it'll be finished in two weeks", I thought it shouldn't take two weeks,
which turned to be wrong.

[Elizabeth]

はい。
「二週間後に会いましょう」 sounds more natural.
で can be used for locations, but not for dates or times.
But you can use で when you make an appointment 「二週間後でお願いします」「じゃあ、二週間後で」.
ありがとう。都合が悪い時に電話したら、『１，２分後 に電話を掛け直してもいい。」
と聞くこともあります。その言い方のほうが自然ですか ？

ルールがよく分からなくっても、それらは暗記することによ って覚えます。:blush:

「１，２分したらまた電話します」などのほうが文法的 に分かりやすいでしょう。:souka:

[Tomii515]

... al i know, is that in English i would say "See you in two weeks."

[Mars Man]

Hello there nakayama_kun and all !! I don't think I've ever posted here because after once checking it out, I noticed that everyone answers well enough that there is really no need for me to add anything.

Anyway, just to add my thoughts here.

Glenn got it right; 'in about two weeks' would be most correct because 'about' modifies 'two weeks'. However the orally spoken sentence could be correct if we assume it were more of a phrasal verb-like thing. This would be 'see you about in two weeks' which would be the same as 'see you around in two weeks.' That understanding would basically equal the 2週間後に会いましょう, without any need for だいたい.

At the same time, it could be said that 'see you about in two weeks' could be allowable as far as actual usage goes--again, in oral communication. The speaker would be thinking as they were speaking and it may come out as, 'see you,....uh...about in two weeks?' as the actual time is uncertain and the statement may have a bit of rise at the end, as though asking for verification of that time period.

[Glenn]

Nice catch with the "see you about." That hadn't even occurred to me (as you may have surmised).

[Mars Man]

Thanks Glenn, I try to look at things from as many angles as I can, when I can.

ps Honolulu, huh? I may end up 'round 'bout there some sunny day.....