Question
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Mulimans
9 February

  • Dutch
  • Simplified Chinese (China)
  • English (US)
Question about English (US)

In Dutch we use "straks", "zo direct" or "zo meteen" to indicate that something is going to happen very soon, in a few minutes at the most.

E.g. "When are you leaving? [...!] After I have finished the dishes!"

How do you say something like that in English?

Unfortunately Google Translate couldn't help me with this, because it translates "straks" into "right away" or "soon". Both don't feel right at all, because "right away" means "now" (right?), and "soon" is too abstract (could also be in a few months in theory).
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Kerryvan
9 February

  • English (US)

In a minute works. I would honestly use them all the same however:

In a minute
In a few (minutes or just "few" is fine) Soon
In a bit
I'll be there ASAP/Going ASAP...

The ambiguity remains regardless of which phrase is used. You'll notice some of the terms have time indicators but, again, they are used the same regardless.

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Mulimans
9 February

  • Dutch
@Kerryvan Thanks a lot!
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CC3
9 February

  • English (US)
  • French (France) Near fluent

straks = soon [not long to wait]
zo direct = directly [meaning right after completing something]
zo meteen = shortly [in a little while]

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Jules-Atlanta
9 February

  • English (US)

I might say:

In just a minute. I just need to finish washing the dishes.

Or “soon” is just fine here. It could mean something different but the rest of your phrase gives more context.

You could also say “right now! I just need to finish the dishes.” The listener would understand that you mean that you’re going as soon as possible.

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In Dutch we use "straks", "zo direct" or "zo meteen" to indicate that something is going to happen very soon, in a few minutes at the most. E.g. "When are you leaving? [...!] After I have finished the dishes!" How do you say something like that in English?
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