two straight hours

Question

what's this phrase mean? or what's the "straight" mean? thanks.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

consecutive, in a row, successive...

Osee · Answer

Then is it normal to say two straight days, three straight years, 4 straight months, etc? I also heard people said two days in a row. Thanks.

Anonymousconsecutive, in a row, successive...

BarbaraPA · Answer

When you use the word "straight" you are saying that it happened without stopping.

I worked on this presentation for eight straight hours. I did nothing else. (No wonder I have eye strain.)

It took eight hours to create this presentation. I may have done it over a week.

Let's say your have a friend you haven't seen in a while, then on Monday you see him at the library and Tuesday at the grocery store. You can say "Wow, I haven't seen you in a month, and now I see you two days in a row!" That means two consecutive days, but obviously, there were many hours in between when you did not see him.

Let's say you and your friend are on an elevator that broke down. Then you were in his company for six straight hours while it was being fixed, not six hours in a row.

Osee · Answer

Great answer! I see.

Grammar GeekWhen you use the word "straight" you are saying that it happened without stopping.

I worked on this presentation for eight straight hours. I did nothing else. (No wonder I have eye strain.)

It took eight hours to create this presentation. I may have done it over a week.

Let's say your have a friend you haven't seen in a while, then on Monday you see him at the library and Tuesday at the grocery store. You can say "Wow, I haven't seen you in a month, and now I see you two days in a row!" That means two consecutive days, but obviously, there were many hours in between when you did not see him.

Let's say you and your friend are on an elevator that broke down. Then you were in his company for six straight hours while it was being fixed, not six hours in a row.

Philip · Answer

Am I the only one who feels that 'eight hours straight' sounds better?

Tidus · Answer

I would probably say "eight hours straight" too.

Kane · Answer

I would say eigth straight hours.

Hi hope this can be useful.

When we use more than one adjective to describe a noun the adjectives are placed in the following order before the noun.

Opinion

Example: an interesting book, a boring lecture

Dimension

Example: a big apple, a thin wallet

Age

Example: a new car, a modern building, an ancient ruin

Shape

Example: a square box, an oval mask, a round ball

Color

Example: a pink hat, a blue book, a black coat

Origin

Example: some Italian shoes, a Canadian town, an American car

Material

Example: a wooden box, a woolen sweater, a plastic toy

We usually do not use more than three adjectives before a noun.

A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion - age - origin)

A big square blue box. (dimension - shape - color)

A disgusting pink plastic ornament. (opinion - color - material)

Some slim new French trousers. (dimension - age - origin)

Khoff · Answer

Kane, I think this list of "order of adjectives" is interesting. Did you learn this list in an English class or textbook, and were you taught to check the list when composing a sentence to be sure the adjectives were in the right order? I think it's really interesting because, as a native speaker, I was never "taught" how to order my adjectives, but this "rule" does seem to describe correctly the way I would usually do it naturally. (For instance, I would probably not say "an Italian old wonderful clock" or "A wooden large mysterious box.") But if you had asked me how I decided which order to put the adjectives in, I would have had no idea how to explain the process.

And welcome to the Forum! It looks as though you are have valuable information to contribute.

By the way -- I would also say "I worked on the report for eight hours straight" rather than "eight straight hours." I can't explain why. [:^)]

Philip · Answer

Khoff
By the way -- I would also say "I worked on the report for eight hours straight" rather than "eight straight hours." I can't explain why. [:^)]

Maybe it's a Colorado thing.

Someone above referred to 'straight' here as an adjective. In the original sentence, I would have to agree. However, Khoff, perhaps the way we would say it, does it become an adverb modifying 'worked'?

Khoff · Answer

Philip, that's exactly what I was thinking!  In "I worked eight straight hours," straight is an adjective.   In "I worked eight hours straight," it felt more like an adverb to me, but I wasn't sure enough to assert that last night.  Glad you see it the same way.  [Y]

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