We'll be landing in 10 minutes.
Are they landing within 10 minutes or after 10 minutes?
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1It means that the time the plane touches the ground will be approximately 10 minutes from now.– Peter ShorApr 6, 2014 at 12:26
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@PeterShor Approximately can fall on either side, within cannot.– KrisApr 6, 2014 at 13:00
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1@Kris: Approximately is what I meant. If somebody says "We'll be landing in ten minutes," it could be nine minutes or eleven minutes. If somebody says "We'll be landing within ten minutes," the landing should be ten minutes or less away. If somebody says "We'll be landing after ten minutes," the landing should be ten minutes or more away.– Peter ShorApr 6, 2014 at 13:10
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1@Kris: I don't see the point. Why should in mean the same as within here? It certainly doesn't always.– Peter ShorApr 6, 2014 at 13:29
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1Peter is correct in stressing that the pragmatics has to inform the semantics here. 99.99+% of people saying "We'll be landing in 10 minutes" aren't claiming an accuracy of plus or minus a nanosecond, and mean something like 'more than 8 but less than 12'.– Edwin AshworthApr 6, 2014 at 15:03
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3 Answers
It means that there are still 10 more minutes before the aircraft touches ground.
Means that when 10 minutes have passed , the plane will have landed. It is the maximum length of time that the expected event is due to take.
It means the landing will take place in under ten minutes.
Probably between five and ten minutes to landing....If it had been less than five minutes they would have said "we'll be landing in five minutes".
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3@Kris: Because the answer is wrong. The preposition in does not mean the same thing as within here. That is, the preposition in means "ten minutes from now", not "ten minutes from now or sooner". If you tell somebody: "I want you to push this button in ten minutes", and they push it right away, they have disobeyed your instructions. If you had said "within ten minutes", they would have obeyed them. Apr 6, 2014 at 13:13