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D'ici à la soutenance, il sera très occupé.

D'ici à la soutenance, il sera très occupé.
Between now and the defense, he will be very busy.
From Lesson 453:Future time limits (d'ici, d'ici à)·French

Questions & Answers about D'ici à la soutenance, il sera très occupé.

What is the difference between using d'ici à and jusqu'à in this sentence?
Jusqu'à simply means "until," focusing on the end point itself (he is busy until the defense). D'ici à literally translates to "from here to," and it emphasizes the entire period of time between right now and the future event. It puts a spotlight on the span of time leading up to the defense.
Could I leave out the à and just say D'ici la soutenance?
Yes, you can. In everyday French, the à is often dropped before a noun, making d'ici la soutenance very common and perfectly acceptable. However, keeping the à (d'ici à la soutenance) is the traditional grammatical standard and is slightly more formal.
I haven't seen the word soutenance before. What exactly does it mean?
It refers specifically to an academic "defense," such as defending a university thesis or dissertation (une thèse). It comes from the verb soutenir, which generally means "to support" or "to hold up," but in this academic context means "to defend."
Since d'ici contains the word for "here" (ici), is it only used for time, or can I use it for physical places too?
It works perfectly for both! You can use d'ici à to express a physical distance, such as d'ici à Paris (from here to Paris), just as it expresses a "distance in time" in this sentence (from now to the defense).

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