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A passenger within a bus during the trip on their way to Amsterdam asks the driver:

a. How many kilometers left to Amsterdam?
b. How many kilometers have been left to Amsterdam?
c. How many kilometers do we have ahead to Amsterdam?

Added: I think "b" and "c" mean the same and the both sound quite idiomatic to me, and although I have encountered some other examples like "a", still it doesn't sound grammatically correct to me while we are talking about 'future' and the 'simple past tense' doesn't seem to be a proper tense here. However, still I have my doubts whether I am right or wrong about it.

Hence, I am wondering which sentence is correct. If there is any wrong choice, please let me know which one it is and why?

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    A-friend, you have been in this site for sometime now. You know that we appreciate when askers share with us what their take is on their question. You should tell us which you think is correct and why. Make it a habit to always have an opinion (about your questions), and then allow us to tell you whether yours is correct or not. I am reviewing the closevote on your question - you need to add more details to it, please.
    – AIQ
    Commented May 13, 2020 at 7:29
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    Point taken @AIQ. I added to my question. Please have a look at my update.
    – A-friend
    Commented May 13, 2020 at 9:47

1 Answer 1

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a. How many kilometers left to Amsterdam?

This is correct. It's a short and informal way of saying "How many kilometers are left until we reach Amsterdam?".

b. How many kilometers have been left to Amsterdam?

Incorrect. "have been" is for present continuous, which is for things that have happened in the past up to the present.

----------------------------------------]
past                                 present                       future

c. How many kilometers do we have ahead to Amsterdam?

Incorrect. The part "have ahead to" just doesn't make sense.

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  • Regarding the third one, I am confident I have already encountered several sentences. Could you possibly tell me more about your claim?
    – A-friend
    Commented May 13, 2020 at 9:49
  • We don't use the phrase "have ahead to". It's just not an English phrase. There are some ways you can have "ahead to" together like that, but those are usually just V + ahead + (in order) to V like "go ahead", for example "I'll go ahead to buy some food". I've checked with google and "ahead" does not collocate with "to".
    – ChocolateOverflow
    Commented May 13, 2020 at 11:52

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