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To refer to the future, can I use "in future" or do I have to use always the phrase "in the future"? Thank you.

Jane N.
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  • You cannot use in future. Without the, the part of speech of future is ambiguous and inferred as an adjective. Thus, the reader expects it to followed by, for example, a noun like in future endeavours. On the other hand, in the phrase in the future the future is a noun which is clearly announced by the. – Martin Krzywinski Apr 16 '20 at 20:35
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    @MartinKrzywinski Your assertion is not correct, you can use "in future", at least in BrE. The syntaxic context makes it clear whether "future" is part of the idiom or if it is the adjective. – LPH Apr 16 '20 at 20:47
  • Context needed!!! – Hot Licks Sep 13 '20 at 23:31

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You can use "in future" as besides the 4 examples from Google books repeated below some 15 more can be checked. However, this is worth considering, specially in the light of a possible accent you might have chosen: from OALD, in the idiom section, you can see that the BrE form is "in future" whereas the AmE is "in the future".

Evaluation of historic, current and future water demand in ... - McCartney, Matthew P., Arranz, Roberto - 2007 - It is likely that in future, as demand, and hence scarcity, in the catchment increases, there will be increased pressure to utilize water in the most economically efficient manner.

Modeling Potential Impacts of Future Climate Change in … Gama, Arthur Chibwana, ‎Mapemba, Lawrence D., ‎Masikat, Patricia - 2014 - ‎ The APSIM results indicate that all models predict a brighter future for both integrating and non-integrating farmers, as mean maize yields are expected to be higher in future.

The Future of Christian Mission in India: Toward a New … - Augustine Kanjamala - 2014 - “It is here the church/ Christians can play an enabling role in order to strengthen in future the solidarity movement of these subaltern groups of Indian society.”44 In contrast to the nineteenth century when missionaries were the only agents of …

The Future of Secured Credit in Europe - Page 323 books.google.fr › books - Traduire cette page Horst Eidenmüller, ‎Eva-Maria Kieninger - 2012 Security in future, multiple and partial receivables In modern financing practice, the assignment and creation of security in multiple and future receivables (as well as partial receivables) in a single transaction is commonplace. Accordingly, the ...

LPH
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  • Fair point. However, the BrE usage sounds very awkward to AmE speakers. Both McCartney and Gama phrases sound clipped. Kanjamala's to strengthen in future the solidarity movement is just plain awkward with the in future better placed after solidarity movement. – Martin Krzywinski Apr 17 '20 at 23:45
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    Your last reference is not using "future" as a noun. – Hot Licks May 16 '20 at 23:23