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Keramus Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary

How long will he be alive / live

A man suffers from a fatal disease and he is in the hospital. His wife asks the doctor:
How long will he be alive?
How long will he live?

Are these sentences correct?
( I mean the man will die soon and his wife want to know when.)

Thank you.
  

Top answer

How long will he live? This is more natural, idiomatic than the other. How long will he be alive?

— Wilpeter

  • How long will he live?
  • This is more natural, idiomatic than the other.
  • How long will he be alive?
  • Most unlikely.
  • How long does he have?
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3 Answers
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How long will he live? This is more natural, idiomatic than the other.
How long will he be alive? Most unlikely.
How long does he have? Most polite form, and what I would prefer.
Strictly speaking, the question is, “How much longer will he live?”
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Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help.
Can we say :

Until when will he live?
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keramusCan we say :Until when will he live?
No, that would be extremely unlikely. It's not as though the Doctor is going to say "Until 2 O'clock on Thursday."

Most people would not even ask directly "how long will he live?" (although it's fine grammatically) "How long has he got?" or "How much time does he have?" would be more common.
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