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What is the meaning of "but not later than three years"?

I'm thinking that "not later than three years" means not more than 3 years, is that correct?

Full sentence:

The Awardee is required to get admission and registration for regular and full time M.Phil./Ph.D. course in a University/Institution/College recognized by UGC at the first available opportunity but not later than three years from the date of issue of this award letter. University/Institution/College is requested to process for award of JRF based on this letter, in accordance with the procedure available on www.ugc.ac.in/netjrf.

Laurel
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user12392
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1 Answers1

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The phrase isn't "not later than three years," it's "not later than three years from the date of issue of this award letter." It's not about an amount of time, it's about a specific day, like saying "not later than Tuesday." It means "do this as soon as possible, but no later than [the date that will be] three years from when this letter is issued."

Note, this wording doesn't make it clear how precise they expect it to be. A deadline of "three years" is probably interpreted as being the same calendar day, three years later (e.g., if the letter was sent on May 11 2021, the deadline is May 11 2024, without bothering about leap years or such). It doesn't say what time of day is allowable, but in such a broad time, such imprecision is allowable, and you're expected to use context and common sense (if you have to be registered for university courses, this is unlikely to happen after business hours, so if May 11 is a Sunday, you'd better take care of it by whatever time the registrar closes on the Friday before).

Andy Bonner
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  • (a) 'Tuesday' and ''three years from the date of issue' do not refer to a point in time but a quasi-point in time. When on Tuesday is the deadline? When '3 years from Wed 9th Feb 2044'? Any time on Wed 9th Feb 2047? The last second of the previous day? This question doesn't have a definite answer, and (b) has been addressed, at least in kind, several times before on ELU. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 06 '22 at 19:35
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    @EdwinAshworth True enough, though it gets a bit into semantics. If I say "get it to me no later than Tuesday" to a family member living with me, then they might reasonably have a deadline of that evening when we go to bed. If I say it to someone at work, then it's "close of business"; in some other contexts, midnight might be reasonable (which time zone?). So "point" is a poor word to choose, but it still refers broadly to a temporal landmark rather than a range. The OP showed some confusion about "three years" as a length of time as opposed to "three years from now," as a date. – Andy Bonner Apr 06 '22 at 20:02
  • But ELU is primarily aimed at building a non-bloated, readily searchable, resource rather than intended for repeating answers every time a new querier asks a repeat or near-repeat question. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 06 '22 at 20:08
  • @EdwinAshworth Fair enough, and I agree that it's a duplicate of the one you identified. I just think that, in both cases, there's a degree of ambiguity that's understood as acceptable (or else the quoted source would be more precise); in other words, I'd say both questions can have definite answers, even if the answer is "this phrasing doesn't pin down the exact second, but it does point to a day and leave it to context or your own inquiries to clarify further." – Andy Bonner Apr 06 '22 at 20:27