If I want finish a task by the end of this week, is it correct to say "I want to finish it within this week?"
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with I want to finish it within this week. Except that idiomatically, most native speakers wouldn't bother including within at all. Purely a personal opinion, but I feel that if that optional preposition is included, it would probably be for the sake of being more "emphatic" - in which case I feel it's actually more idiomatic to use determiner the rather than this - I want it done within the week.– FumbleFingersMay 12, 2022 at 17:52
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See this NGram showing that [I want] it done within the week, ...it done within a week, and ...it done this week are all relatively common, but ...it done within this week doesn't occur often enough to show on a chart.– FumbleFingersMay 12, 2022 at 17:56
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2 Answers
While it sounds a bit stilted, there is nothing wrong with it.
A more common expression (in US usage) would be
I want to finish it within the week.
Said in that fashion, it means this week. Exactly what this week means may be open to interpretation. It might mean the work week (usually Monday to Friday), the calendar week (usually ending on Sunday, but for some on Friday, and for others Saturday).
Both the original sentence and the offered alternative would indicate that the job should be done by the last day of the week we are currently in, regardless of the day the instruction is given. It would be unusual to use the expression unless there were more than one day left in the week.
However, if you said
I want it finished within a week.
that would likely be interpreted to mean within seven days (or possibly five work days) regardless of the actual day of starting and stopping.
correct in reference to ... grammar, style, or culture?
Grammatically, it's fine. I want to say its antiquated grammatically but I don't have a reference for that.
Stylistically and culturally, it's odd and shouldn't be used except in jest. It has a certain theatrical flair to it since it is unnecessarily verbose.
As suggested in the other answer:
I want to finish it this week
is probably the most natural.
or
I want to finish it before the end of the week
but the second formulation will introduce an ambiguity as to whether one includes the Saturday.
