Which one is correct?
I'd like to schedule a meeting with you [in/for/no preposition] the next week.
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2 Answers
It depends what you mean.
"I'd like to schedule a meeting with you next week" could mean that sometime next week, you'd like to schedule a meeting. That meeting might actually be scheduled for next month, but next week you'll agree to the time.
"I'd like to schedule a meeting with you for next week" means that the meeting should take place next week.
Edit: "I'd like to schedule a meeting with you for next week" could also mean that you want to schedule a meeting to talk about something that will happen next week. The actual meeting will happen this week, and you want to talk about next week's event.
That's just one literal interpretation, and the context of where and when you're saying it might make it more obvious that you mean something else.
Edit: You've just changed your question, so I'll add this:
"I'd like to schedule a meeting with you in the next week" means that sometime in the next week (which includes whatever is left of this week), you'd like to schedule a meeting. That meeting might actually take place next month.
answered Jun 4, 2014 at 18:40
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1Interpreting “I’d like to schedule a meeting with you next week” as asking to do the actual scheduling next week is of course possible; but it is not a very likely interpretation in a normal situation, and there’s no grammatical reason why such an interpretation should be made over the more reasonable one of wanting to schedule a meeting that is to take place next week. Jun 4, 2014 at 18:46
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Like I said, I offered only a literal interpretation, which is all we can do without more context. Jun 4, 2014 at 18:48
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But a literal interpretation could just as well mean that the scheduling is now and the meeting next week. Jun 4, 2014 at 18:49
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I don't really disagree with you. For the third time: context changes the understood meaning of the sentence. The OP asked which is "correct", and the answer to that is "it depends". Jun 4, 2014 at 18:52
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I don’t disagree with that at all—only with your phrasing of it as “ ‘I’d like to schedule a meeting with you next week’ means that sometime next week…”; I would just change that to note that it can mean that, or that the meeting should be next week. Jun 4, 2014 at 18:56
All of these uses are interchangeable. Obviously the third option would be written "I'd like to schedule a meeting with you next week" and not "I'd like to schedule a meeting with you the next week." If there is any distinction in meaning it is trivial and not acknowledged in common use.
Arguably "I'd like to schedule a meeting with you next week" could mean that you'd like to do the act of scheduling the meeting next week but not necessarily meet the person then. However, this would normally be expressed with something like "I'd like to touch base with you next week to schedule a meeting."
