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enter image description hereenter image description hereI have come across the following sentence in Activate Level A2 by Carolyn Barraclough, Elaine Boyd, Suzanne Gaynor, Megan Roderick, Mary Stephens:

The only bad thing was that it was very busy so we didn't get time on everything and it is quite expensive.

I have found out that you can 'have/find/make time for everything/tennis/long walks'. My question is whether it is grammatically correct to use preposition 'on' here. Any reliable sources are appreciated.

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    What does "everything" refer to here? Is it talking about roller coasters, for example?
    – Laurel ♦
    Oct 25, 2018 at 6:31
  • It refers to the museum the person visited.
    – Yukatan
    Oct 25, 2018 at 6:36
  • 'everything' must refer to more than one thing. So, is it about various museums the person visited, or various things (to see) within a single museum?
    – CinCout
    Oct 25, 2018 at 6:42
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    It is a poorly worded sentence. Was the expense a good thing, since there was only one bad thing?
    – Weather Vane
    Oct 25, 2018 at 10:05
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    It actually refers to the designs one can work on using the computers at the art museum, not to museum exhibits displaying paintings or sculpture. They didn't get time (to work) on everything (on all the designs that they had wanted to work on).
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Oct 25, 2018 at 15:27

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You could say "didn't get time on everything" if you had just visited a crowded amusement park with long waiting lines and were referring to the rides, but with a crowded museum, where the reference is to the exhibits, I'd expect to find "didn't get to spend time on everything".

I would be willing to bet that they had originally written the sentence with an amusement park but later decided to make it more "high-brow" :)

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  • How do I attach a file here? I want to show you the page of the coursebook.
    – Yukatan
    Oct 25, 2018 at 13:11
  • Is there something in particular you wanted to show? If you edit your question, does a little icon with a mountain-range with a sun appear? That's the attach-image option.
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Oct 25, 2018 at 13:51
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    The reference is to the designs you can work on using the computers at the art museum.
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Oct 25, 2018 at 15:09
  • The main point of the picture is for you to get the idea whether they intended the text to be about an amusement park or a museum from thе very beginning.
    – Yukatan
    Oct 25, 2018 at 15:28
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    You mischaracterized the context somewhat in your comments above. Contextual details are very important when asking about the meanings of words and phrases.
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Oct 25, 2018 at 15:29

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