D'ici le temps ...

Ernst v.C1Kwiziq community member

D'ici le temps ...

One of the questions has the reply alternative: D'ici le temps que nous trouvions une solution, il sera trop tard. This was considered incorrect.

However, Reverso has loads of examples where "D'ici le temps que + subj." is translated as "By the time that". So, any reason why this doesn't work here?

d'ici le temps que ces dispositions soient mises en oeuvre -> by the time this is implemented

d'ici le temps que ton bébé ait le même âge que Samuel  -> by the time your baby is Samuel's age

etc., etc

Asked 2 days ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Ernst, 

‘ d’ici le temps que subjunctive ‘ may be used by some,  and retrieved by ‘ internet scavenging ‘ or ‘ crowd-sourcing ‘ sites like Reverso, but it is not standard, and it definitely grated for my wife ( French).  At least 2 AI systems agree with her !

It seems at best to be a ( mashed) tautological expression - either “ d’ici à ce que (subjunctive)…” or “ le temps que (subjunctive) “ are standard French in appropriate contexts.  

 

Claude AI ( my preferred free AI currently )

“ The phrase “d’ici le temps que…” is not correct French.

The correct expressions would be:

- **“d’ici à ce que…”** - meaning “by the time that…” or “before…”

- **“le temps que…”** - meaning “by the time that…” or “while…”

For example:

- “D’ici à ce qu’il arrive, nous aurons fini” (By the time he arrives, we’ll have finished)

- “Le temps que tu reviennes, j’aurai préparé le dîner” (By the time you come back, I’ll have prepared dinner)

The phrase you mentioned seems to be mixing these two constructions, which creates an incorrect form in French.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ “ 

and 

Google AI search response

 The phrase "d'ici le temps que..." is not a standard or grammatically correct construction in French. While "d'ici" means "from here" or "by then," and "le temps que" can mean "the time that," combining them in that way is not a common or idiomatic expression. 

CécileKwiziq Native French Teacher

Bonjour Ernst, 

To add to what Maarten has said, it's a pity you didn't pin the Reverso page where you saw this, as I'm afraid it's incorrect.

You can say -

D'ici que ...

or 

Le temps que  ...

 

But never 'd'ici le temps que',  which is an anglicism of 'By the time ...'

 

 

Ernst v. asked:

D'ici le temps ...

One of the questions has the reply alternative: D'ici le temps que nous trouvions une solution, il sera trop tard. This was considered incorrect.

However, Reverso has loads of examples where "D'ici le temps que + subj." is translated as "By the time that". So, any reason why this doesn't work here?

d'ici le temps que ces dispositions soient mises en oeuvre -> by the time this is implemented

d'ici le temps que ton bébé ait le même âge que Samuel  -> by the time your baby is Samuel's age

etc., etc

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