Timeline for Can we say "How much guitar do you play a day?"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
20 events
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| Jul 7, 2018 at 12:19 | comment | added | J.R.♦ | @Tᴚoɯɐuo - Just to be clear, we are in agreement on all of this. I never thought "how much guitar" was problematic, and we both agree that "{each, a, per} day" is normal English, too. | |
| Jul 7, 2018 at 12:14 | comment | added | TimR | @J.R. I wasn't paying much attention to that part of the sentence. I understood the focus of the question to be the phrase how much guitar. I see nothing wrong with a day. It is idiomatic. How much piano do you play {each, a, per} day? | |
| Jul 7, 2018 at 10:59 | comment | added | J.R.♦ | @Tᴚoɯɐuo - I noticed that none of your examples contain "a day", either. You and I keep changing a to each. Maybe that's part of the "oddity" with the O.P.'s originals. Interestingly enough, there's nothing ungrammatical about using "a day" instead of "each day," but I think it just reads a little strangely when used in a standalone question for some reason. Yet I can easily imagine myself asking a coworker: "How much water a day do you drink?" | |
| Jul 7, 2018 at 10:18 | history | edited | TimR | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jul 7, 2018 at 10:17 | comment | added | TimR | @J.R.We do consult our "ear" when we hear a phrase and judge whether it is idiomatic, and you guys are certainly entitled to your opinions that it is strange, but I've heard this phrase (and others like it) very often, and it is well-attested. | |
| Jul 7, 2018 at 10:10 | history | edited | TimR | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jul 6, 2018 at 23:46 | comment | added | J.R.♦ | I have no problem with "How much guitar do you play?” but I think it rings a little odd when we add the “a day” part: "How much guitar do you play a day?” That said, I can think of conversations that could lead to such a question, for example: Musician: I practice my guitar daily. Me: Really? How much guitar do you play each day? | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 22:46 | comment | added | Ronald Sole | As the lady wrote: For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn? | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 22:39 | comment | added | TimR | @Ronald Sole: Righto. We don't say jolly fun here, and I am looking at you a bit strangely as a result. | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 22:31 | comment | added | Ronald Sole | @Tᴚoɯɐuo I could show you some jolly funny ads from this side of the pond as well - although I've no doubt that idiom and expressions are particular to different regions and culures. | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 22:24 | comment | added | TimR | @Ronald Sole: It's idiomatic this side of the Atlantic. Check it out. ads.guitarworld.com/dear-guitar-hero-dave-wyndorf | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 22:20 | comment | added | Ronald Sole | You can certainly say How much guitar do you play a day but guitar players might look at you a bit strangely if you did. How much music do you listen to? would be much easier on the ear. | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 22:01 | history | edited | TimR | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jul 6, 2018 at 21:58 | comment | added | TimR | The person you've asked might say "10 hours a week" or "every day". The question is an imprecise one because of the way in which guitar has been cast as something quantifiable. So it doesn't equate simply to how often. | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 21:39 | comment | added | Fire and Ice | Thanks. Can I say these two for meaning "How often do you play guitar?"? --------> "How much guitar do you play?" and "How much do you play guitar?" | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 21:21 | history | edited | TimR | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jul 6, 2018 at 21:14 | comment | added | TimR | You and me both. But how much distance is idiomatic. How much distance does the aeroplane cover in 40 minutes? | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 21:12 | history | edited | TimR | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jul 6, 2018 at 21:12 | comment | added | J.R.♦ | Good answer. Minor point: I'd likely be more inclined to ask, "How far do you travel..." (as opposed to "How much distance do you travel..."). | |
| Jul 6, 2018 at 21:06 | history | answered | TimR | CC BY-SA 4.0 |