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JKBelieve Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

how long/ for how long

Hope I'm not annoying you guys.....well here goes.....


'How long can I hold onto this?'

and

'How long can I hold onto this for?'


Which one sounds more idiomatic?
  

Top answer

Both sound equally likely to me, spoken. ' PS: Please give your threads more descriptive subject titles, JK-- it makes it difficult for mods and others to select.

— Mister Micawber

  • Both sound equally likely to me, spoken.
  • ' PS: Please give your threads more descriptive subject titles, JK-- it makes it difficult for mods and others to select.
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3 Answers
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Both sound equally likely to me, spoken. Written formally, of course: 'For how long can I hold onto this?'


PS: Please give your threads more descriptive subject titles, JK-- it makes it difficult for mods and others to select.
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Hi.

Firstly I think you are misunderstanding the word 'idiom'. This is a 'set-phrase' and there are not idioms for everything. Things do not sound 'idiomatic'. They are either idioms or not.

You are perhaps looking for what sounds most natural, most informal, most like native speech, most colloquial etc.

Both of your sentences sound ok and might be used in diffe
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I think we need to agree on a definition of 'idiomatic'. To me, it means 'comforming to natural language formation'-- the way native speakers form the utterance, as opposed to unnatural structures sometimes assembled by ESL/EFL students. For example:

'It's good to see you again' is idiomatic English.
'It's good that I see you again' is not.

I'm not sure who I'm speaking
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