I understan "I'll be there in an hour." is a correct sentence, but if I make the sentence to "I'll be there one hour later." is that correct? and same meaning?
if not, why is it incorrect?
i'm wondering if i can use "five minutes later or one hour later" instead of in five minutes or in an hour" when i make future sentences.
like I'll be back in an hour, I'll come back in five minutes.
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I google-checked "there an hour later", and got only 420 results. For "be there an hour later" or "be there one hour later", only a couple dozen results. This expression seems untypical for some reason.– CowperKettleNov 12, 2015 at 9:14
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5I'm trying to understand why you want to use the word "later". For me, "later" must be used in reference to some other mentioned time.– JMBNov 12, 2015 at 9:38
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3@CopperKettle - I believe the word "untypical" is, er, atypical... ngrams– AndyTNov 12, 2015 at 15:51
1 Answer
"I'll be there in an hour" denotes arrival in one hour from the time the words are said. "An hour" is also generally used to be a bit vague, whereas "I'll be there in one hour" is generally used to be more specific. Either way, the clock starts from the time it's stated.
"I'll be there one hour later" implies that it will be later than something, i.e. one hour later than already agreed. If you'd agreed to meet at 15:00, this means you'll be arriving at 16:00 instead. You could say "I'll be an hour late" to convey a similar meaning.
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3"Tiffany will arrive at the agreed location at two o'clock. I'll be there one hour later." Nov 12, 2015 at 13:42
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2Or relative to some other time in context like say: "I can't leave with until I get this task done. I'll be there an hour later."– shawnt00Nov 12, 2015 at 14:02