# five years from now



## chagall83

Hola, tengo dudas con la siguiente frase:

*"* *Describe what you would like to be doing five years from now."*

  Quiere decir que describa lo que me gustaría hacer desde ahora hasta dentro de cinco años o que describa lo que me gustaría estar haciendo dentro de cinco años.

Muchísimas gracias!!!!!


----------



## fsabroso

Hola Chagall:

¡ Bienvenido a WR !

_"Describir que te gustaría estar haciendo *en 5 años*._"


----------



## taichifan

Lo que te gustaría estar haciendo dentro de cinco años.
Si quisera preguntarte lo que te gustaría hacer desde ahora hasta dentro de cinco años, la pregunta podría ser algo así como: 'Describe what you would like to do for the next five years', o también: 'Describe what you would like to do in the next five years'.

Saludos


----------



## sweethafsa

Pues en tu frase has puesto: me gustaría pero en las frase inglesa has puesto: you would like... así que no estoy seguro de quien exactamente estés referiendo.... pero la frase inglesa es correcta, lo único que yo diría es añadir 'in' así que...
Describe what you would like to be doing in five years from now.


----------



## Moritzchen

I´m with fs in this one: "en cinco años", "dentro de cinco años" would be "within the next five years".


----------



## chagall83

Muchísimas gracias a todos!!!

Es mi primer mensaje, no sé si debería contestar uno por uno o así está bien.

Thank you so much anyway!!!!!


----------



## Quillaray

sweethafsa said:


> Describe what you would like to be doing in five years from now.



This isn't right - you can't use both "in" and "from now" because it's redundant, and will sound off to a native speaker.

"five years from now" = "en cinco años"
You are being asked to imagine a day five years in the future. This is a specific point on a timeline.​​"within the next five years" = "dentro de cinco años"
This is not a specific point on a timeline; rather, it's a defined period of time, with today being the start date and the date five years in the future being the end date.​


----------



## gengo

Quillaray said:


> This isn't right - you can't use both "in" and "from now" because it's redundant...



 

Describe what you would like to be doing in five years from now.  
Describe what you would like to be doing in five years.  
Describe what you would like to be doing five years from now.


----------



## Quillaray

The doubt I have is concerning common usage in Spanish of the following two phrases:

en cinco años más
dentro de cinco años

In English - both in strict meaning and in common usage - these have two different meanings.

But I get the sense that while they have different strict meanings in Spanish, in common usage they can be used interchangeably to mean roughly _de aquí a cinco años_. Is that correct?


----------



## gengo

Quillaray said:


> But I get the sense that while they have different strict meanings in Spanish, in common usage they can be used interchangeably to mean roughly _de aquí a cinco años_. Is that correct?



I think you may be right.  Just for fun, I ran "What will you be doing in five years?" through Google Translate, and it gave "¿Qué vas a hacer en cinco años?"  Ignoring the somewhat incorrect verb tense, that's fine.  Then I ran "¿Qué vas a hacer dentro de cinco años?" through, and it gave "What will you do in five years?"

So, at least the machine thinks that dentro de can be used in this sense.  I agree with you that the distinction is very clear in English, but it may be more blurry in Spanish.


----------



## Cerros de Úbeda

I would never have thought that this could be a difficulty. In Spanish it is quite clear (although there is some ambiguity in colloquial speech, I'll give you that);

- En / dentro de cinco años
- In five years.

This follows the simple logic of the 'in' preposition, which is translated exactly the same way as a temporal preposition as when it is a spatial one:

- In - En / dentro de

'El vino está *en* el coche'
- The wine is in the car..

'Llámame *en* cinco minutos.'
(=> dentro de cinco minutos)
- Call me in five minutes.
(=> after five minutes)


If you want to refer to 'within five minutes' ('in / within the next five minutes', or 'before five minutes'), you have to say 'LOS PRÓXIMOS' o alguna referencia temporal similar ('estos', etc);

'Llámame en los próximos cinco minutos.'
'Llámame antes de que pasen cinco  próximos minutos.'
'Llámame dentro de los próximos cinco minutos.'
(Esta no se dice casi... Suena a traducción del inglés).


However, it seems to me that this may be limited to Spain's variety, and it may be somewhat different in Latin American varieties of Spanish... These are often influenced by English, which may be a cause of some confusion.




Moritzchen said:


> I´m with fs in this one: "en cinco años", "dentro de cinco años" would be "within the next five years".



No...

How can you translate 'cinco años' into 'THE NEXT five years'? Notice that you're missing a 'los próximos'...

- Within the next five years
- En LOS PRÓXIMOS cinco años
(ESTOS (PRÓXIMOS) cinco años)


----------



## gengo

Cerros, I think the problem here is that "dentro de" literally translates to "within," but within five years is very different from in five years, as has been explained above.

within five years = at any point during the next five years (could be tomorrow, could be in 2024, etc.)
in five years = a point exactly five years from now (can only be in 2025)

So, if "dentro de cinco años" can translate to both of the above, that makes it ambiguous from the English perspective.


----------



## Cerros de Úbeda

Yes.

I was glimpsing that aspect while I was posting... I just left it out, thinking that it might be clearer not insisting on that possible source of confusion...

You could say:

- Within (these / the next) five years
- (Durante / En) Estos cinco años
((En) los / estos próximos cincos años)


- In five years
(Five years from now - After five years)
*- En / Dentro de cinco años*
(Al cabo de / Tras cinco años)


(*) Note:
It is true that 'within' is usually translated as 'dentro de' - but only when it has a spatial meaning.
(Better, translate it as 'en el interior', or just 'dentro' - so that you can see it doesn't fit the same way as 'en', becase it often needs the 'de' preposition)


----------



## Ferrol

gengo said:


> Cerros, I think the problem here is that "dentro de" literally translates to "within," but within five years is very different from in five years, as has been explained above.
> 
> within five years = at any point during the next five years (could be tomorrow, could be in 2024, etc.)
> in five years = a point exactly five years from now (can only be in 2025)
> 
> So, if "dentro de cinco años" can translate to both of the above, that makes it ambiguous from the English perspective.


Round these parts "dentro de cinco años" means "in five years" and by no means  amounts to "within five years".
Antes de que pasen 5 años/ en el plazo de 5 años means "within 5 years"


----------



## gengo

Ferrol said:


> Round these parts "dentro de cinco años" means "in five years" and by no means  amounts to "within five years".
> Antes de que pasen 5 años/ en el plazo de 5 años means "within 5 years"



Good to know.  Thanks, Ferrol.

And what about "en 5 años"?


----------



## Ferrol

gengo said:


> Good to know.  Thanks, Ferrol.
> 
> And what about "en 5 años"?


If someone said "en 5 años estaré jubilado" I would be inclined to think that he meant   "five years from now I will be retired", or "in five years...."


----------



## gengo

Ferrol said:


> If someone said "en 5 años estaré jubilado" I would be inclined to think that he meant "five years from now I will be retired", or "in five years...."



OK, so that means the same to you as dentro de, right?


----------



## Ferrol

gengo said:


> OK, so that means the same to you as dentro de, right?


Yes,it  does


----------



## Cerros de Úbeda

I agree with ferrol on everything.


----------



## franzjekill

_¿Qué te gustaría hacer en los próximos cinco años?_ es una pregunta, a mi saber y entender, completamente inequívoca. Es igual que preguntar _¿Qué te gustaría hacer durante los próximos cinco años? _El candidato que está siendo entrevistado no va a pensar que le están preguntando otra cosa, y si lo piensa, mejor buscar otro candidato.


----------



## Ferrol

franzjekill said:


> _¿Qué te gustaría hacer en los próximos cinco años?_ es una pregunta, a mi saber y entender, completamente inequívoca. Es igual que preguntar _¿Qué te gustaría hacer durante los próximos cinco años? _El candidato que está siendo entrevistado no va a pensar que le están preguntando otra cosa, y si lo piensa, mejor buscar otro candidato.


This is a different kettle of fish (not a sentence starting "en cinco años..."


----------



## Magazine

gengo said:


> "¿Qué vas a hacer en cinco años?"



This can mean: What will you be doing/will you do in the next five years?
 It can also mean: What will you be doing _within_ five years? 
The latter should be said as follows: ¿Qué vas a hacer dentro de 5 años? ....but we would undestand it either way, depending on the context.




franzjekill said:


> _¿Qué te gustaría hacer en los próximos cinco años?_ es una pregunta, a mi saber y entender, completamente inequívoca. Es igual que preguntar _¿Qué te gustaría hacer durante los próximos cinco años?_


----------



## Ferrol

franzjekill said:


> _¿Qué te gustaría hacer en los próximos cinco años?_ es una pregunta, a mi saber y entender, completamente inequívoca. Es igual que preguntar _¿Qué te gustaría hacer durante los próximos cinco años? _El candidato que está siendo entrevistado no va a pensar que le están preguntando otra cosa, y si lo piensa, mejor buscar otro candidato.


De acuerdo


----------



## gengo

franzjekill said:


> _¿Qué te gustaría hacer en los próximos cinco años?_ es una pregunta, a mi saber y entender, completamente inequívoca. Es igual que preguntar _¿Qué te gustaría hacer durante los próximos cinco años? _El candidato que está siendo entrevistado no va a pensar que le están preguntando otra cosa, y si lo piensa, mejor buscar otro candidato.



Just to be clear, that is NOT what the original English means.



> Describe what you would like to be doing five years from now.



Se puede expresar de la siguiente manera:  Describe lo que te gustaría estar haciendo en el año 2025.
NO se refiere a lo que se va a hacer durante los próximos cinco años.



Magazine said:


> "¿Qué vas a hacer en cinco años?"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This can mean: What will you be doing/will you do in the next five years?
> It can also mean: What will you be doing _within_ five years?
Click to expand...


The part that quotes me was not what I said, but rather what Google Translate said, as I discussed above.
Also, neither of your English sentences means what the original OP's text means (see above regarding 2025).


----------



## Magazine

gengo said:


> The part that quotes me was not what I said, but rather what Google Translate said, as I discussed above


I got that...I was just giving my thoughts on what that would mean to me.


> Also, neither of your English sentences means what the original OP's text means (see above regarding 2025).



Of course not, I was just saying what en cinco años can or cannot mean.


chagall83 said:


> *"* *Describe what you would like to be doing five years from now."*
> 
> Quiere decir que describa lo que me gustaría hacer desde ahora hasta dentro de cinco años o que describa lo que me gustaría estar haciendo dentro de cinco años.



The poster already posted the correct answer.


----------



## gengo

Magazine said:


> Of course not, I was just saying what en cinco años can or cannot mean.





> This can mean: What will you be doing/will you do in the next five years?
> It can also mean: What will you be doing _within_ five years?



Just so I understand, you are saying that "en" here cannot mean "in," right?  Because neither of those two English sentences means "in five years."  The first means during the next five years, and the second means in a period no longer than five years (maybe two, maybe three, etc.)


----------



## franzjekill

gengo said:


> Just to be clear, that is NOT what the original English means.


Lo sé. Mi comentario iba referido a lo escrito por Cerros de Úbeda, que dice; "However, it seems to me that this may be limited to Spain's variety, and it may be somewhat different in Latin American varieties of Spanish... These are often influenced by English, which may be a cause of some confusion ".  Comentario con el que no estoy de acuerdo.


----------



## Cerros de Úbeda

I know the comment I made could be controversial, which I don't intend to be.

I didn't want it to be read like that, but I can't avoid observing this in a general sense (not particularly referring to this case).

It is something that happens more in varieties nearer to the US, and more influenced by it, (specially, in some Mexican usages), which tend to get a lot of US anglicisms. American English loan structures. ('Americanisms').

Here, in particular, I was referring to these comments by Moritzchen and Quillaray, who wrongly equate 'dentro de + time' (= after + time), with 'within + time' (= durante + time).



Moritzchen said:


> I´m with fs in this one: "en cinco años", "dentro de cinco años" would be "within the next five years".






Quillaray said:


> "five years from now" = "en cinco años"
> You are being asked to imagine a day five years in the future. This is a specific point on a timeline.
> 
> "*within* the next five years" = "*dentro de *cinco años"
> This is not a specific point on a timeline; rather, it's a defined period of time, with today being the start date and the date five years in the future being the end date.




'Within' should be understood as 'antes de que pasen + tiempo'.


*(*) Cambridge Dictionary
- Within*

- We reccomend that this wine should be consumed within six months.
- Within hours of the tragedy happening, an emergency rescue team had been assembled.
- The tickets should reach you within the week (= before the end of this week).


WITHIN | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary


----------



## Rocko!

Este hilo ya lleva #29 posts, contando éste, el mío, por lo que voy a concentrarme en el post de @Quillaray (post #7), porque ella fue la que revivió el hilo y habló del detalle que mencionaré:

El DPD dice:


> *4.* Seguido de la preposición _de_ y un sustantivo de significado temporal, forma una locución preposicional que expresa el tiempo que falta para que algo suceda o tenga lugar: _«Dentro de diez minutos estoy allí»_ (CBonald _Noche_ [Esp. 1981]). El uso en estos casos de la preposición _en_ está influido por el inglés y, a pesar de su extensión, debe ser evitado:
> 
> 
> _«Si Raúl no aparece en cinco minutos, me largo»_ (Mendizábal _Cumpleaños_ [Esp. 1992]).


Mi opinión personal sobre lo que dice la cita que hice del DPD:
Ese "debe ser evitado", no creo que se cumpla en México al pie de la letra. Es más, me vengo enterando que debo evitarlo; y sí, lo evitaré de ahora en adelante.


----------



## gengo

This thread has been very educational to me, so I'd like to thank Quillaray for reopening it, and all of you who have contributed since.  I have always thought (mistakenly, I now see) that "dentro de {un tiempo}" meant "within {a time}," and I'm very glad to have been disabused of that idea.  It will take me a while to internalize this new information, but I hope one day to be able to use the forms correctly.  Digamos que lo lograré  antes de que pasen dos años (y no dentro de).  

EDIT:  corrected "antes de que" and "lograré."


----------



## Magazine

gengo said:


> Digamos que lo logré antes que pasen dos años (y no dentro de).


Mira, siempre digo que mi inglés es maravilloso y nadie puede mejorarlo ..._.igual que tu español_  Y no, no tengo abuela

Sin embargo, siempre hay errores y zas ...  somos humanos  

¿Aquí has querido decir "logr*e*"? O quizás: Espero lograrlo antes de que pasen...Ojalá lo logre...?


----------



## Quillaray

Very educational set of answers here - took some mental horsepower for my English brain to process, but I think I've got it.

Buenísima cita del DPD, Rocko!


----------

