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Suppose that yesterday, I had been walking from noon to 4pm. I took a rest at these times: 12:45pm, 1:20pm, 2pm, 2:25pm, and so on. I have written down two similar sentences below.

(1) During my four-hour walk, I took a rest many times.

(2) During my four-hour walk, I rested many times.

Which one is correct?

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  • "took a rest" is more idiomatic. You can also say: I took many breaks (which is perhaps better than the other two).
    – Gustavson
    Mar 9, 2019 at 19:15

2 Answers 2

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Both examples are grammatically correct if somewhat formal, as if translated into English by someone who is not a native speaker.

The first requires more words to say the same thing - and brevity is a virtue.

There are other ways to say the same thing, such as:

I rested frequently/often
I frequently/often rested
I took several rests/breaks/rest-breaks
I took a number of rests
I took a rest every so often
I rested every so often

and so on.

They're all idiomatic and a little less formal than your two examples.

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  • I really like your additional examples. You have given me different ways of expressing the same idea. Thanks a lot.
    – ansonguy
    Mar 9, 2019 at 19:54
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Both are valid and neither would mark you out as a non-native speaker. However, "I took a rest many times" seems more natural to me.

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