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Tenacious Learner Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Is 'briefly' appropriate

Hi teachers,
The context:
Alex said nothing, and waited. He felt very tired. The driver stared at him for a minute.
Would 'briefly' be appropriate in the question according to the context? I'm saying this because to stare at someone for a minute doesn't sound that it is for a short time.
Did the driver gaze at Alex briefly? Explain your answer.
No, he didn’t. He did it carefully.

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

"for a minute" can be used either in a literal sense (literally 60 seconds) or in a colloquial sense where it refers to an imprecisely defined short period of time. " or "Keep an eye on this for a minute". In my opinion it does not fit terribly well in your prose context.

— GPY

  • "for a minute" can be used either in a literal sense (literally 60 seconds) or in a colloquial sense where it refers to an imprecisely defined short period of time.
  • " or "Keep an eye on this for a minute".
  • In my opinion it does not fit terribly well in your prose context.
  • If you mean a short time I would say "stared at him for a moment".
  • However, because of the potential uncertainty, if you do literally mean a minute, and you wish to emphasise that this is not a brief period of time, I think you should say it another way, perhaps "stared at him for a full minute".
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10 Answers
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"for a minute" can be used either in a literal sense (literally 60 seconds) or in a colloquial sense where it refers to an imprecisely defined short period of time. The colloquial sense is used in conversational settings such as "Could you come over here for a minute?" or "Keep an eye on this for a minute". In my opinion it does not fit terribly well in your prose context. If you mean a short time
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Hi GPY,
Thanks a lot for your reply and comments.
GPYIn my opinion it does not fit terribly well in your prose context. If you mean a short time I would say "stared at him for a moment".
Unfortunately, I can't change that text; it's part of a book, 'The President's Murderer'.
By the way, I made a mistake with the answer. The answer I wrote was from the q
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Tenacious Learnerto stare means, 'to look at someone or something in a steady way and usually for a long time, and briefly doesn't mean for a long time.
Don't worry. 'usually' doesn't mean 'always'.

CJ
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Tenacious LearnerUnfortunately, I can't change that text; it's part of a book, 'The President's Murderer'.By the way, I made a mistake with the answer. The answer I wrote was from the question before. In fact, another context.I think it will be better if the question and answers is:Did the driver gaze at Alex briefly? Explain your answer.Yes; he stared at him for a minute
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CalifJimDon't worry. 'usually' doesn't mean 'always'.
Hi Jim,
Thanks! How right you are. I feel much better now.
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GPYIt is not clear whether the answer is supposed to be "Yes, because a minute is not a long time, and anyway 'minute' may mean 'moment'" or "No, because a minute is a long time to keep staring at someone".
Hi GPY,
That was and is my personal question.
Then the question is not properly written.
Maybe just, 'Did the driver gaze at Alex? Yes, he did
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Tenacious LearnerMaybe just, 'Did the driver gaze at Alex? Yes, he did.', will be a lot better. What do you think?
Maybe, but a fussy person could argue that this might invite doubts about whether "gaze" is exactly synonymous with "stare". I mean, someone could validly answer "No, he didn't gaze, he stared, and the two do not have identical connotations".
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Hi GPY;
Thanks for your reply.
GPYMaybe, but a fussy person could argue that this might invite doubts about whether "gaze" is exactly synonymous with "stare"
I think "stare" has a more negative connotation and 'gaze' is much more positive.
Then the question as it stands is not valid.
Maybe these ones will be better. Which one is more appropriate?
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Tenacious Learnera) Did the driver look at Alex in a fixed and intense way? Explain your answer.b) Did the driver look at Alex in a rude manner? Explain your answer.Yes, he did. He stared at him.
"stare" does not always mean "in a rude manner", so unless there is something else in the text to make it clear that "in a rude manner" was intended, I think "fixed a
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Hi GPY;
Thanks for your advice.Emotion: yes

TL
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