Al cabo de / Dentro de / Después de
4
votes
I understand what these three phrases mean. But I saw this sentence:
-
- Esta chica no sabe lo que quiere, se fue a los Estados Unidos a estudiar inglés y resulta que se aburría y ..... 3 meses volvió.
a. dentro de
b. al cabo de
c. después de
It seems to me that all three would fit, I guessed "al cabo de" because it sounded the most right, and it was right, but I want to know why and what it is that makes the other two impossible. (They are impossible).
Thank you!
4764 views
updated Jan 17, 2012
posted by rabbitwho
Good question! Now I am curious too. :D - NikkiLR, Jan 10, 2012
I did find this -- al cabo de vs después de -- http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1404249 - NikkiLR, Jan 10, 2012
His explination points to "después de" being the right answer though, since it wasn't expected. - rabbitwho, Jan 10, 2012
Well, what I found was ""Al cabo de" es mejor usado para indicar algo que sucede después de un tiempo de espera" so that explains why "al cabo de" was your answer. =) - NikkiLR, Jan 10, 2012
Yes but that's what I read but I don't see how it applies here. What is there that tells me she was waiting for 3 months to leave? It's not like the examples that person gives. - rabbitwho, Jan 10, 2012
Perhaps they didn't explain it well... I found this too -- ""Al cabo de" da más idea de la duración de un proceso, que acaba de finalizar. "Después" es más amplio, abarca todo el tiempo posterior a ese proceso." - NikkiLR, Jan 10, 2012
That one relates more.. so I guess you'd say "al cabo de cinco años terminé mi carrera" but "después de 5 años de classes terminé mi carrera"... And dentro de? - rabbitwho, Jan 10, 2012
Hehe... that I don't know... I will keep looking, though. Hopefully someone will give you an answer soon! =) - NikkiLR, Jan 10, 2012
Thanks for your help Nikki! - rabbitwho, Jan 10, 2012
You're welcome =D - NikkiLR, Jan 10, 2012
Wow, Rabbit. Interesting question. I didn't even know I was confused until now! - MLucie, Jan 11, 2012
2 Answers
2
votes
To me, both b and c are correct. In my speech I make no difference between "al cabo" and "después de" - they are synonymous to me.
updated Jan 17, 2012
posted by Gekkosan
Para mi, también. - annierats, Jan 11, 2012
Thanks Gekko, why is A incorrect? - rabbitwho, Jan 12, 2012
Posted a thread here and got some more help: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2332278 - rabbitwho, Jan 12, 2012
This was on the EOI exam again this year! (same grammar again but different wording) And I was able to answer it confidently thanks to you and the people on word reference :) Thank you! - rabbitwho, Jan 17, 2012
0
votes
If you hadn't given any options I wouldn't even have hesitated to write 'después de'. For what that is worth, a problem I had not even considered has now been discovered, what fun!
Dentro de, would, to me, change the meaning to 'she returned within 3 months because she got bored..''
updated Jan 17, 2012
posted by annierats
Yes, that's what it would mean to me too. I can't figure out for the life of me why it's wrong. - rabbitwho, Jan 12, 2012
Probably solely because the person who wrote the question was looking for an answer that represented äfter"and didn't realize that the sentence works with within but has a different meaning. - gringojrf, Jan 17, 2012
