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Pjrydo Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Question from non-native speaker that stumped

0My friend is Chinese and is learning English. In conversation she asked me which of these were correct: 02br
00'In three hours, I don't know what I should do' 02br
01b01u00or02u02b02br
02br
00'In three hours, I don't know what should I do'02br
00She was asking me what she should do with herself for three hours while she waits for someone, so I think staright away she should substitute 'in' for 'for'. 02br
02br
00Neither of them sound correct to me and embarrasingly I couldn't tell her which (if any) was correct. Could someone please check over them and;02br
00a) tell me if either or indeed both are correct or not, and;02br
00b) explain to me why they are correct/incorrect.02br
00I have a feeling that the latter of the two would constitue informal, lazy grammar use in everyday speech but am not too sure?!? 0-
  

Top answer

"02br 02br 00It sounds very strange to place "in (or for) three hours" at the beginning. 02br 02i 02br 01i 00Should02i 00 is not the best choice. Three hours is long time.

— Aperisic

  • "02br 02br 00It sounds very strange to place "in (or for) three hours" at the beginning.
  • 02br 02i 02br 01i 00Should02i 00 is not the best choice.
  • Three hours is long time.
  • The speaker 01u 00cannot02u 00 decide about his action or if there is an appropriate action at all.
  • 02i 02br 02br 00is probably the most precise.
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7 Answers
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0 'In three hours, I don't know what should I do' incorrect grammar, unless there is a special reason within the style but it does not apply here02br
02br
00'In three hours, I don't know what I should do'02br
00is correct but the meaning is02br
02br
00"01b00After02b00 three hours 01b00pass02b00, I d
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0
0Hi pjyrdo02br
00Here are my comments:02br
001. The word order is not the most natural. The time aspect is more typical at the end: "I don't know what I should do for three hours."02br
02br
002. 'In three hours' is frequently used to refer to a 01u00point02u00 in time that is three hours from now. (e.g. I'll see you in three
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0 I have a feeling that the intent of the question is: I don't know what I should do between now and three hours from now, during the next three hours. 0-
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0<<>> 00She was asking me what she should do with herself for three hours while she waits for someone.00 Scenario: she drove an hour to the airport to pick up someone and due to a snow storm, the arrival flight was hung up for 3 hours. She didn't want to drive home, only to come back a couple of hours later. Based on this context, the answer was already in the sentence, "wit
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0 BTW02br
00 Question from 01b00a02b00 non-native speaker that 01b00got 02b00stumped0-
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0 Sorry for asking....should it be more appropriate with 00"who"00 got stumped ? I know 00"that"00 in some cases may work. 0-
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0 BTW I actually meant, 02br
00Question from a non-native speaker that stumped me. 02br
00 NOT02br
00Question from a non-native speaker that got stumped.02br
02br
00I left out the article and the pronoun for brevity.02br
00Thanks for your input. Most helpful 0-
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