Sooner or later we will have to make a decision

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi, what would you say is the difference between these phases:

Sooner or later we have to make a tough decision.
Sooner or later we will have to make a tough decision.

Thanks a lot.
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: A wooden house structure[YSaerTTEW443543]

2

Interesting poser.

‘Sooner or later we’ll have to make a tough decision’ is the way I’d say it, if I referred to one particular situation. In the first sentence, the use of the present simple suggests that we normally have to make a tough decision (at some point in our life) – we aren’t necessarily talking about one specific case.

At least, that’s how I understand it.

3

Hi

Can I add a word and then ask what I actually did? :slight_smile:

Sooner or later we do have to make a tough decision.

Or it just makes no sense?

4

You enjoy living life to the extreme, don’t you? Well, a little risk adds spice. :slight_smile:

It makes perfect sense. You’re just using ‘do’ for emphasis here. Nothing dangerous in it, after all!

5

Thanks a lot, Conchita.

…I do love life.
:slight_smile:

6

Hi,friends
Here I don’t want to talk about the tense problem. I wonder if the following sentence sounds the same as “Sooner or later we will have to make a tough decision.”, as follows:
We will yet have to make a tough decision. :slight_smile:
F.F

7

Your sentence sounds a bit awkward to me. I’d prefer ‘We have yet to make a tough decision’.

8

Hi FangFang

I’ve decided to assign numbers to some of the sentences in this thread for easier reference: 8)

1. Sooner or later we will have to make a tough decision.
2. We will yet have to make a tough decision.
3. We have yet to make a tough decision.

Here’s my take on things:

Sentences 1 and 2 have the same meaning.
Sentence 3 has a different meaning, but it is a more typical sort of sentence than Sentence 2.

Sentences 1 and 2 both anticipate that there will be a tough decision to make in the future. Sentence 1 is the more typical way to express this idea.

Sentence 3 states that there have been no tough decisions in the past. It does not suggest any anticipation of a tough decision in the future.

Amy

9

Sooner or later we have to make a tough decision.
Yeah. I agree absolutely.