British English - “In two hours time”
From users of British English, I have noticed the pattern of adding time after a unit of time, as in:
He has class in 30 minutes time.
My initial impression as an American is that this is quite silly as the fact that we are talking about time is already implicit in the unit minutes, which can only be used to describe time. (Edit: Okay, they can also be used to describe latitude or longitude, or angles, but I find it hard to conceive of an example where it isn't already obvious whether we're talking about time or a location on a map even without adding time.)
However, I wonder if saying “he has class in 30 minutes time” contains more information than, say, “he has class in 30 minutes”. Is there some bit of information encoded into the use of the word time here?
My questions are these:
Does the use of the word time in this sense add additional information, or would removing time from any sentence (when used in that way) not alter the meaning?
Is this slang? Is this formal English?
Are there cases where it wouldn’t be OK to say “X [units] time”, but it would instead be correct to say “X [units]”, in British English?
Solution 1:
I would agree that the use of the extra word "time" in your example adds nothing, and is therefore redundant and better avoided.
To my British ears, this usage sounds more American! Maybe it's just as incorrect on both sides of the pond...
For the duration of an event, the word "time" would never be appended in English: "He has a class for 45 minutes", (although it would in some other languages).
Solution 2:
The 'time' bit is redundant even in British English. It's possibly technically more correct but sounds a little stiff or old fashioned, anyone would understand "in 30mins"
edit: there are possibly occasions where you would need to differentiate between minutes/seconds of time and minutes/seconds of arc - but unless you are writing astronomy or navigational software I wouldn't worry.