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- "Vous y serez à quatre heures…
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Sometimes, I need to be careful with the way some of my compatriots speak our language. I wish I could tell you "à" is needed to announce clock time, but I know some don't bother. So the bad news is that you can expect a degree of ambiguity and should be prepared to ask "dans les quatre prochaines heures ?" or "du matin ou de l'après-midi ?" or similar clarification.
- vous y serez en quatre heures = it will take you four hours to get there
- vous y serez d'ici quatre heures = you will be there within four hours
- vous y serez dans quatre heures = you will be there in four hours
- Marseille est à quatre heures d'ici/de Paris en TGV = Marseilles is 4 hours from here/Paris in high speed train
1035
Aha, that makes sense, so if I wanted to say "You will be there for four hours.", I could say "Vous serez là-bas pendant quatre heures." or " Vous y serez pendant quatre heures."?
"Vous y serez / Vous serez là-bas pour quatre heures", is ambiguous because it can mean "by 4 o'clock" or "during a period of four hours".
Considering the meaning of "for four hours" as "during a period of time of four hours", you may have to change the verb to: "Vous y resterez/Vous resterez là-bas pendant quatre heures".
1035
I see, the defect in what I wanted to say was in the original English statement "You will be there for four hours." when I meant "You will stay there for four hours.", Thank you Sitesurf, you are an angel--even if you cover your face!