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Question

Hi teachers,Could you correct me my two questions based on the underlined and bold words in the answers?a) How fast was the big police car?a) The big police car was fast.b) How did the kilometers go in the big police car?b) The kilometers went fast in the big police car.Thanks in advance

Avangi · Accepted Answer

When we say that a car is fast, we mean that it's capable of going fast. It's a quality of the car.

Perhaps you mean something like,

How fast was the big police car going? (reply) The big police car was going [very] fast.

"How did the kilometers go?" is not an idiomatic question in English. I'm not sure what you're asking.

Are you referring to the scrolling of the digits on the car's odometer?

Are you referring to the impression of a passenger in the moving car as he watches the scenery "go by"?

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi Avangi,

AvangiPerhaps you mean something like,
How fast was the big police car going? (reply) The big police car was going [very] fast.

But Avangi, the sentence is, "The big police car was fast". (there is no 'going'.)

AvangiAre you referring to the scrolling of the digits on the car's odometer?
Are you referring to the impression of a passenger in the moving car as he watches the scenery "go by"?

The thing is that the sentence I have is this one, "The big police car was fast, and the kilometres went quickly".

The question is about the second part.

TS

Avangi · Answer

Thinking Spain the sentence is, "The big police car was fast".

No problemo. Just checking.

The use of the past tense seemed to suggest an "event."

Is that a fast car? You're posing the question to the owner of a car which is parked.

We would probably not ask "Was that a fast car?"

There's nothing wrong with the sentence, "The big police car was fast."

But it's not a very likely answer to the question, "How fast was the big police car?"

Of course, if you're speaking it, you could place lots of emphasis on "FAST!"

Thinking Spain "The big police car was fast, and the kilometres went quickly".

The sentence is fine, but it's a bit poetic.

As a question, "How did the kilometeres go?" is very unlikely. A native speaker would not ask it that way.

"How did the kilometeres seem to pass?" would be possible.

"The kilometers went quickly" can have two different senses:

1. They passed by us quickly.

2. They were [all] quickly gone.

You can say the same thing about time: "The time went quickly."

1. The time seemed to be flying by.

2. The time was gone before we knew it.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi Avangi,

Thank YOU so much for your detailed reply. I has helped me a LOT!!

TS

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