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Fireflysaigon Posted 15 years ago
Hello great people!
I know that the question I am going to ask you sound easy and clear to many of you. However, I would be grateful if I would hear your precious ideas about the question I am going to ask you. - How ______ can you finish your work? - I'll be ready in five minutes. A. soon B. long The correct choice is "A. soon" because we do emphasize the speed, the necessity to have the work done as soon as possible. We do not mention about the duration of an action here, so "how long" is impossible here. Thanks a bunch!
Grammar
How soon and How long
Hello great people!
I know that the question I am going to ask you sound easy and clear to many of you. However, I would be grateful if I would hear your precious ideas about the question I am going to ask you. - How ______ can you finish your work? - I'll be ready in five minutes. A. soon B. long The correct choice is "A. soon" because we do emphasize the speed, the necessity to have the work done as soon as possible. We do not mention about the duration of an action here, so "how long" is impossible here. Thanks a bunch!
Top answer
- How __ can you finish your work? - I'll be ready in five minutes. A.
- - How __ can you finish your work?
- - I'll be ready in five minutes.
- A.
- soon B.
- long The correct choice is "A.
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5 Answers
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- How __ can you finish your work? - I'll be ready in five minutes. A. soon B. long The correct choice is "A. soon" because we do emphasize the speed, the necessity to have the work done as soon as possible. We do not mention about the duration of an action here, so "how long" is impossible here.-- That's right. What is your question?
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Hi, Mr. Micawber!
It's nice to see you again. I have always appreciated your professional ways of explaining things.
My question is that I want to make sure "What I have just said above is right or wrong". I badly need a native speaker's opinion about this just because some people keep argueing that "How long" is correct here. And if possible could you kindly offer me some link for my
It's nice to see you again. I have always appreciated your professional ways of explaining things.
My question is that I want to make sure "What I have just said above is right or wrong". I badly need a native speaker's opinion about this just because some people keep argueing that "How long" is correct here. And if possible could you kindly offer me some link for my
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I don't have a link for you, but I assure you that Mr. Micawber's answer is completely correct.
You can ask how long it will take to do work - from start to finish - but not how long you can finish the work. Finishing is an instantaneous event. It doesn't have the property of duration, so it has no length. You can't ask about the length of something that has no length.
CJ
You can ask how long it will take to do work - from start to finish - but not how long you can finish the work. Finishing is an instantaneous event. It doesn't have the property of duration, so it has no length. You can't ask about the length of something that has no length.
CJ
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Another way to word it, if you would like to use the "how long" phrase, would be something like: How long will it be until you are finished? or How long will it be until you are ready?
Take care!
-S
Take care!
-S
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