There are only a few days left for the exam(s)

Question

1. There are only a few days left for the exam(s).

2. There are only a few days left for the exam(s) to start.

3. There are only a few days left until the exam(s).

4. There are only a few days left before the exam(s).

Which are correct?

Answer 1

None of your sentences are "incorrect" but they have different meanings, and some of those meanings make more sense than others.

First of all, "the exam" in the singular obviously refers to one specific exam for one specific course. Usually we think of "an exam" as being a single test which is taken in a single session of a couple hours in length, so your sentences 1 and 2 are a little strange in that context... but it could be that the professor is lenient or the student has an accommodation which allows them to take the test at any time in a set period. It is also possible that the "exam" is a practical project or essay which has a set deadline but not necessarily a defined period in which it is taken.

So I will discuss the use of "the exams" in the plural, which refers to "the exam period"—that is, the time over which you expect to take several exams for several courses.

1. There are only a few days left for the exams.

Not grammatically incorrect, but not the best phrasing. I would take this to mean "The exam period ends in only a few days." There is an implied "...to happen" at the end, which means that the exam period has started, and if you want to finish your exams on time you only have a few days left. This would make the most sense if the exam was a practical project rather than a written test, as I mentioned above.

2. There are only a few days left for the exams to start.

Again, not grammatically incorrect. This one makes much less sense, though. It means that there is not much time left in which the exam period could start—which makes it sound like it is not pre-determined when they will start, only that the exams must be done with by such-and-such date, and the exam period is so long, and so the period must start by this-or-that date in order to not run over. This is not how it usually works; generally the exam period is scheduled even before the academic year starts, and that is when the exams will take place unless there is a very good reason otherwise.

3. There are only a few days left until the exams.
4. There are only a few days left before the exams.

These both make perfect sense and have the same meaning, which is: The exam period starts in only a few days.