##  [In future or in the future: What’s the difference?](/favourite-articles/in-future-or-in-the-future-whats-the-difference)

##  Avertissement

Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement.

Sheila Ethier
(*Language Update*, Volume 10, Number 2, Summer 2013)

Recently, a fellow language professional questioned my use of the phrase *in future*. She felt that *in **the** future* was necessary for formal English and that the absence of the definite article was telegraphic style.

I was surprised, since the phrase sounded quite natural to me without *the*, so I decided to do some investigating. Sure enough, my ear had not deceived me: both the *Canadian Oxford Dictionary* (2004) and the *Collins Canadian Dictionary* (2010) list the phrase *in future*. The *Canadian Oxford* also lists *for the future* as an equivalent.

However, it seems that these two adverb phrases are not merely synonyms for *in the future*. *In future* and *for the future* both mean "from now on, from this point forward." In other words, the desired change is to come into effect now and continue on:

- For the sake of my nerves, dear, I would prefer to do the driving *in future*.

- *For the future*, we will rely on teleconferencing to reduce our travel expenses.

The phrase *in the future*, on the other hand, is used simply to mean "at some indefinite future time." The idea that the action begins from this point on is absent:

- *In the future*, earthlings may colonize Mars.

Interestingly, this distinction between *in future* and *in the future* does not seem to exist in American English, where the phrase *in future* is rarely used. A quick search of the Corpus of Contemporary American English turned up under 200 instances of the adverb phrase *in future* in material published between 1990 and 2012, as opposed to over 12,000 uses of *in the future*.

In *Garner’s Modern American Usage* (2009), Bryan Garner explains why a phrase common enough to be listed in two top Canadian dictionaries is so rare in American speech: apparently, *in future* "is British English, perhaps through direct translation of the Latin phrase *in futuro* or perhaps because of the British English pattern of usage without the definite article ." In contrast, Garner notes, "American English uses the definite article."’s>

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