I came across the following sentence:
その次の週は空いてますか。
- Why would they say 次の週 instead of 来週?
- Why would they say その before 次の週? Would この also work?
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1 Answer
Why would they say 次の週 instead of 来週?
Because like the phrase next week in English, 来週 is generally assumed to be relative to the time when it is uttered.
来週は空いていますか。
Are (you) free next week?
Is a question about whether someone is free in the next week after whenever it was asked. 来週 is not really used to talk about relative time in reference to anything other than the present. 次の週 can do that, though.
その次の週は空いてますか。
Are (you) free the following week (after some particular week)?
Why would they say その before 次の週?
To make it clear that this is the week after some relevant particular week. You might also think of this, meaning wise, like それの次の週, where それ is some week. As the post linked above says, this is optional, but frequently used.
Would この also work?
I would not expect to see この here in most cases, though I can conceive of situations where it could be appropriate, like if both parties were in front of a calendar and the speaker were pointing at weeks. I am not going to write an in-depth explanation of the difference between その and この here, as that doesn't seem to be what the question is about.
