Community Web Version Now Available
Ameral
How do you use this sentences..
1.How long does it take to get downtown fom here? 2.How long will it take to get downtown from here? 3.How long did it take you to finish law school? Second sentence is 'future' what about first one and last one...in which situation i can use first sentence'how long does it take' and 'how long will it take' any differences between both.
May 30, 2013 1:17 PM
8
0
Answers · 8
The main difference between 1 and 2 is that 1 implies that you will be going downtown from here soon no matter the answer since it talks about a future event that "will" happen. This one also makes it clear that the speaker (and perhaps others) is the one that will be going downtown.
For sentence 2, the speaker may be concerned that it will take too long at the present time, and may decide not to go downtown because of that. It does not refer to any individuals or group specifically.
Sentence 3 is talking about a past event and refers to the person being spoken to.
May 30, 2013
1 and 2 are interchangeable. You can use either and they have essentially the same meaning. The third question is in the past because the person you are asking has already completed law school and you're asking specifically about his or her experience. If you ask, "How long does it take to finish law school?", it's not asking about a specific person, but in general, for the average person, how many years of study does law school require.
May 30, 2013
I think the first one(present tense) and the second one(future tense) are replaceable here.There are no difference between them when you ask how to go somewhere. The last one is past tense.
May 30, 2013
