Help me with two questions

Question

Hi. Please help. Thank you in advance.1. Which is correct? I think the word "for" before the determiner "an" is optional.a. He studies an hour and thirty minutes every day.    b. He studies an hour and a half every day.    c. He studies an hour and a half hours every day.2. For this question, would your answer be different if there were three balls?    (There are five balls)a. Please place one next to the other to form a line.    b. Please place one next to the other to form a line.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

1. Which is correct? I think the word "for" before the determiner "an" is optional. Here, yes.
a. He studies an hour and thirty minutes every day. OK
b. He studies an hour and a half every day. OK, more common
c. He studies an hour and a half hours every day. No. But you could say 'one and a half hours'.

2. For this question, would your answer be different if there were three *****? No.

(There are five *****)
a. Please place one next to the other to form a line. OK
b. Please place one next to the other to form a line. It's the same.

You could also say 'Place them next to each other'.

Clive.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you.

I wrote:

2. For this question, would your answer be different if there were three *****?

(There are five *****)
a. Please place one next to the other to form a line.
b. Please place one next to the other to form a line.

For example sentence b, I meant to write "Please place one next to another to form a line." Would that be correct? I think it would be. Also I think we use the phrase "one next to the other" instead of "one next to another" more often in this kind of situation where a person has to line up some object in a straight line fashion. If my assumption is correct, why do you think that is. I believe when we have to write about a situation where we have to put two ***** in a line, the phrase we most likely to use is the phrase "one next to the other," not the phrase "one next to another." Thank you for your help in advance again.

09:28 am

REPLY

Clive · Answer

Hi,
I wrote:

2. For this question, would your answer be different if there were three *****?

(There are five *****)
a. Please place one next to the other to form a line.
b. Please place one next to the other to form a line.

For example sentence b, I meant to write "Please place one next to another to form a line." Would that be correct? I think it would be.It's not wrong, but it sounds to me like awkward English.

Also I think we use the phrase "one next to the other" instead of "one next to another" more often in this kind of situation where a person has to line up some object in a straight line fashion. Perhaps. I don't know..
If my assumption is correct, why do you think that is. I believe when we have to write about a situation where we have to put two ***** in a line, the phrase we most likely to use is the phrase "one next to the other," not the phrase "one next to another." My subjective feeling is that you are over-analyzing what we say, and that we express this meaning in a variety of ways, certainly without much conscious thought.
A very common way to say this is to say, as you yourself said above, 'put these ***** in a line', or 'line up these *****'.

Clive

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