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Stephenlearner Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
Do you see that tower far away from us?
Hi,
Do you generally use "a long way (away)" rather than far (away) in this context?
Is away optional?
If you don't use far or far away, in what contexts do you use it? I feel far or far away is a very important and common word. But I have been told a couple of times that native speakers avoid to use far or far away. I wonder why native speakers think it akward in this context.
A: Do you see that tower far (away) from us?
B: Yes, I do.
A: It is a very famous tourist attraction. Lots of people come to see it every day.
B: Wow. We should go to see it some day.
Do you generally use "a long way (away)" rather than far (away) in this context?
Is away optional?
If you don't use far or far away, in what contexts do you use it? I feel far or far away is a very important and common word. But I have been told a couple of times that native speakers avoid to use far or far away. I wonder why native speakers think it akward in this context.
A: Do you see that tower far (away) from us?
B: Yes, I do.
A: It is a very famous tourist attraction. Lots of people come to see it every day.
B: Wow. We should go to see it some day.
Top answer
stephenlearner Do you generally use "a long way (away)" rather than far (away) in this context? 'Generally'? No.
- stephenlearner Do you generally use "a long way (away)" rather than far (away) in this context?
- 'Generally'?
- No.
- 'Often'—yes.
- stephenlearner Is away optional?
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5 Answers
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stephenlearnerDo you generally use "a long way (away)" rather than far (away) in this context?'Generally'? No. 'Often'—yes.
stephenlearnerIs away optional?Grammatically, yes.
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It's not my experience that native speakers avoid "far." The Ngram server tells me that "away" is not preferred with an object. People apparently prefer "It's far from here" to "it's far away from here. If you're talking about literal distance, "away" is redundant. Or perhaps this is the result of the echo of a certain science fiction movie's introduction "in a galaxy far, far away."
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stephenlearnerBut without FROM US, away is necessary, right?Yes, that's true.
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