Soonmeans ‘a short time after now’ and ‘a short time after a point in the past’.Like many other short adverbs, we can use it in front position, mid position or end position, though we don’t use it in end position when referring to the past:
The summer is coming.Soonthe tourists will arrive.(front position)
Shesoonrealised her mistake and apologised to us all.(mid position)
I was sorry to hear you are not well. I hope you get bettersoon.(end position, future reference)
A:Bye bye.
B:Bye. See yousoon. (end position, future reference)
The ticket office opened at 8 am, and all the tickets weresoonsold out.(orThe ticket office opened at 8 am, andsoonall the tickets were sold out.)
Not: …were sold out soon.
We can useveryorquitebeforesoon:
The construction is planned to startvery(orquite)soon– next month in fact.
Soonorearly?
Soondoes not mean the same asearly.
| We’ll have to leave after a short time from now. |
| We’ll have to leave before the usual or planned time, e.g. early in the morning, so that we do not arrive late. |
Soonorquickly?
Soondoesnot meanthe same asquickly:
I hope to see yousoonto tell you more about it.
Not:I hope to see you quickly…
Soon after
We can usesoonbeforeafterorafterwards:
Sharon arrived first, and Mena arrivedsoon after(orsoon afterwards).
As soon as…
As soon as… is a common phrase. We can follow it by the adjectivepossible,or by a clause:
The bridge must be repairedas soon aspossible. It’s dangerous.
Come and see usas soon asyou can.
Fill in the form and return itas soon asyou receive it.