I have seen this sentence in a book:
He sleeps 10 hours a day.
To be begin with, I thought this sentence needs preposition 'for' like this:
He sleeps for 10 hours a day
However I am wondering whether the sentence is possible without 'for'.Is it?
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2 Answers
Yes, both are grammatically correct. However there is a slight difference in the meaning of the two. The first one:
He sleeps 10 hours a day.
means that he sleeps a total of 10 hours in a day, not necessarily consecutively. He could be sleeping 8 hours at night and 2 hours afternoon.
Whereas the second one:
He sleeps for 10 hours a day
implies that he sleeps for 10 hours consecutively, only one sleep a day.
answered Dec 19, 2020 at 14:30
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I suspect unless you were specific about sleep being broken up most people would assume consecutively since that's the normal way people sleep.– cyborgDec 19, 2020 at 17:49
Both are the same as the preposition in this case does not give much difference. Both are grammatically correct. In my opinion: He sleeps 10 hours a day —>He sleeps a total of 10 hours per day
He sleeps for 10 hours a day —>He sleeps 10 hours a day only at night, so this does not imply those long he sleeps for naps, etc.
However, I think that “He sleeps 10 hours a day “ is better.
