TOOK ME THE TIME IT TAKES .....

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Could you please help me with this?I've asked this sort of question before but I can't find it, and I'm not sure which to say if any.1 I listened to 2 songs in the time it took me to get home/It took me the time it takes for 2 songs to finish to get home.2 It took me the time of 2 songs to take a shower./I took a shower in the time it took for 2 songs to play.Thank you

TrysB · Accepted Answer

Hi alc24,

The first version of your first sentence is the one I would choose because it is flows nicely and says clearly what you mean. The second version is grammatical and understandable; but, It took me the time it takes... has a very awkward sound to my ear. This is just my opinion. It is not ungrammatical and others may not be bothered by it. Although i understood what you meant, I would have tried to find a different way to say it.

In your second set of sentences, I think it would sound better if you phrased it in the same way as you did the first: I listened to two songs in the time it took to take a shower.

In these examples, I think you are getting more into the stylistic rather than the grammatical aspects of the English language and that is very murky territory. Tradition, culture, dialect, popular usage, conversation vs formal writing, and the goals of the writer, all figure into how a sentence is constructed and what words are chosen. In my English classes, we did not study only grammar. We read the classic English and American authors, learned how to analyze and critique writing and practised composition and creative writing ourselves. What I mean is that while learning the 'rules' of grammar is important and necessary, it will not make you a good writer. That comes with reading good writing, loads of practise and analysis--and, of course, continuing to ask questions on English Forums.

Hope you didn't mind the long-winded answer. I try to stick to the question.

TrysB

TOOK ME THE TIME IT TAKES .....

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