How long vs. How much time

Question

Yesterday, I bumped into a friend of mine. While conversing, he told me that he goes to a center. Then I asked him which center do you go? (to. Should I add "to" or not?) then he told me the name of the center. Then when I asked him how long do you spend at/in the center?, he told me, don't use "how long" with "spend". Use "how much time" with "spend".

While looking it up on Google, I came across a website. On that website a guy mentioned the same. Now I am confused as to which one to use?

So now I am asking you guys which one is correct?

How long do you spend in the center?

How much time do you spend in the center?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

"How much time do you spend at the centre" is better. This is because you "spend time", and you are asking "how much"

"How long did you spend ..." is fine. It is understandable and grammatically correct. It is slightly odd, since it seems to want an answer like "I was spending for 3 hours". And this answer is incorrect. Nevertheless, "How long do you spend..." is used by good writers. "

If I was writing carefully, I'd prefer the first form. Commenters on the Wordreference note that the second may be more common in British English.