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Next vs Soon - What's the difference?

next | soon |

As adjectives the difference between next and soon

is that next is following in a sequence while soon is occurring within a short time, or quickly.

As adverbs the difference between next and soon

is that next is in a time, place or sequence closest or following while soon is immediately, instantly.

As a determiner next

is the one immediately following the current or most recent one.

As a preposition next

is on the side of; next to.

As a noun next

is the one that follows after this one.

next

English

Alternative forms

* (l) (dialectal) * (l) (Scotland)

Adjective

(-)
  • Following in a sequence.
  • Being closer to the present location than all other items.
  • * , chapter=8
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Philander went into the next room, which was just a lean-to hitched on to the end of the shanty, and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.}}
  • Nearest following (of date, time, space or order).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • (figuratively) Following in a hypothetical sequence of some kind.
  • *

    • Antonyms

    * previous * (closest to seven days ahead) last, this

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • The one immediately following the current or most recent one
    • Next week would be a good time to meet.
    I'll know better next time.
  • Closest to seven days (one week) in the future.
    • The party is next Tuesday; that is, not this Tuesday, but nine days from now.

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a time, place or sequence closest or following.
    • They live in the next closest house.
    It's the next best thing to ice cream.
    Next , we stripped off the old paint.
  • On the first subsequent occasion,
    • Financial panic, earthquakes, oil spills, riots. What comes next ?
    When we next meet, you'll be married.

    Antonyms

    * previously

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • On the side of; next to.
  • * 1900 , The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices , translated by Walter Leaf (London, Macmillan), notes on line 558 of book 2:
    • The fact that the line cannot be original is patent from the fact that Aias in the rest of the Iliad is not encamped next the Athenians .

    Noun

    (-)
  • The one that follows after this one.
    • ''Next , please, don't hold up the queue!

    Statistics

    * 200 English basic words English sequence adverbs 1000 English basic words ----

    soon

    English

    (wikipedia soon)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Occurring within a short time, or quickly.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1927, author= F. E. Penny
    • , chapter=4, title= Pulling the Strings , passage=Soon after the arrival of Mrs. Campbell, dinner was announced by Abboye. He came into the drawing room resplendent in his gold-and-white turban. […] His cummerbund matched the turban in gold lines.}}

    Adverb

    (er)
  • (label) Immediately, instantly.
  • Within a short time; quickly.
  • * , chapter=1
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • * , chapter=5
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly,
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-04-21, volume=411, issue=8884, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Subtle effects , passage=Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese
  • Early.
  • * Bible, (w) ii. 18
    • How is it that ye are come so soon to-day?
  • Readily; willingly; used with would , or some other word expressing will.
  • * (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
    • I would as soon see a river winding through woods or in meadows, as when it is tossed up in so many whimsical figures at Versailles.

    Derived terms

    * get well soon * sooner or later * soon enough * soonish * too soon

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----