3

From Oxford Dictionary's definition of "in (preposition)":

3. Expressing the length of time before a future event

I'll see you in fifteen minutes

Can I use the same description, but for the distance (I couldn't find)?

I'll see you in fifteen meters (after passing fifteen meters)

Improve this question
12
  • 3
    If you are asking specifically about using distances as an ersatz time measurement, then yes, it can be done, but only under special circumstances. For example, if you were driving across country with another person but in separate cars, and you had agreed to stop every 100 miles to rest, you could say to the other person, OK, I will see you in a hundred miles. Or if you were doing a "walkathon" around a track for charity, as a member of a team, you could say to one of your teammates, I will spell you in five laps.
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Jun 5, 2017 at 17:05
  • 2
    Max, that may be what you meant, but that's not what you said. And your example doesn't really fit this situation very well, because, if you are only 15 meters away from me, I can probably see you already.
    – J.R. ♦
    Jun 5, 2017 at 17:17
  • 1
    I suppose if two people are trying to find each other using their cell phones, it's possible. "Wait – you're here at the store, in Aisle 3? I'm in aisle 4! I'll see you in 15 meters." That's the beautiful thing about English – just about anything can work if you put it in the right context. :-)
    – J.R. ♦
    Jun 5, 2017 at 17:28
  • 2
    "Spell" means "take over for". So in his walk-a-thon example, it means "You walk for five miles and then I'll start walking and let you sit down for a while."
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 5, 2017 at 17:37
  • 1
    See the verb definition of spell here.
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 5, 2017 at 17:46

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

You have to use at, especially because if you are talking about passing a 15-meter mark that's on the ground somewhere, then you don't mean a fixed distance or even a time, but literally a fixed point.

I'll see you at fifteen meters

Time can be abstracted to a point when you talk about a specific clock time only, e.g. "I'll see you at 4:50pm."

You could only say "I'll see you in fifteen meters" if "fifteen meters" was an amount of time. You would need a lot of context to make that work, including establishing the "rate" and "time" parts of the distance = rate x time equation.

A: I can run 2 meters a second.

B: So can I.

A: Fine, I'll see you in 10 meters.

Even then, this sounds weird.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .