Questions tagged [time-words]
The time-words tag has no usage guidance.
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time conjunctions (before, as soon as, until, etc.) convey high levels of certainty unlike "if"?
Example 1
Dad will reply to the letter when he comes home from work.
Example 2
Dad will reply to the letter if he comes home from work.
The difference lies in the likeliness.
When implies high ...
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Comma after time expressions
Should a comma be put after time expressions when they are used at the beginning of a sentence? Is there any particular rule to follow?
Last Sunday(,) all members of the Brown family were at home.
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How do I write a time span in the morning or afternoon Oxford style?
I wonder if anyone knows how to write a time span in the morning or afternoon Oxford style – I have checked the Hilary term 2016 version of the Oxford Style Guide and I have searched the internet for ...
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What does "once back in" mean in this context?
The interior was to become the idealised landscape for the National
Romantics in the 1830s, but in Porthan’s time it was rather the
productive agricultural economy which was the exemplar, as was also
...
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Fitting noun for "how long a process took" that doesn't mean "how long a process lasted"? [closed]
As a software developer, I often have variables or database entries where I store how long a process took, and I'm always struggling to find the right noun to express that in the variable name.
For ...
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Come to a place for some time [duplicate]
He came to New York for two weeks.
He has come to New York for two weeks.
Can they express the idea that he has come to New York and he plans to stay for two weeks， without mentioning how much of ...
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Working/Having worked at Google helped me land a job. - what are the differences?
Example 1
Working at Google helped me land a job.
Example 2
Having worked at Google helped me land a job.
One is "Working" and the other is "Having worked."
What are the ...
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Make sense to native speakers: 'I am hardly ever optimistic about my future' and 'I am hardly ever pessimistic about my future' [closed]
I wonder if the following sentences sound natural to native speakers of English:
'I am hardly ever optimistic about my future.' and
'I am hardly ever pessimistic about my future.'
Thank you for your ...
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The temperature will increase "during" or "throughout" the night?
If I want to tell someone that the temperature is going to increase over the period of night, how can I say that?
The temperature will increase during the night.
or
The temperature will increase ...
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He reached the summit in an hour
Peter started climbing the mountain. He reached the summit in an hour.
What does "in" mean in this sentence?
I've consulted some dictionaries, but haven't found the correct explanation. I ...
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'Simple past' with unfinished period of time 'this week'
I've read that 'present perfect' is used with 'this week' mostly, as it's an unfinished time period. For example..
I've had Chinese food this week.
But if we add the adverb 'thrice' in the sentence, ...
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Which of "almost don't talk to each other" or "almost never talk to each other" is correct?
a. My sons almost don't talk to each other.
b. My sons almost never talk to each other.
Are both of the above sentences grammatically correct and do they mean the same?
I use (b). (a) sounds a bit ...
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is going to be accessible
a. His new single should be accessible online sometime soon.
b. His new single should already be accessible online sometime soon.
===================
c. His new single is going to be accessible online ...
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How to say that I start doing something from this year/season
I would like to say that something starts at the particular moment, e.g. year or season. How should I pose it? For instance.
I watched movies alone before, but starting from this winter, I plan
to ...
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Find time to practice English
Is 'find time' a natural thing to say?
"No matter how busy I am, I need to find time to practice English."
"Even though you're a busy man, you should still find some free time to spend ...
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Word for something with duration
What would be a correct word for describing that something has a duration (in contrast to non-timable things)? Could e.g. temporal be an option?
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Is "A meeting is already arranged today" correct or should it be "arranged FOR today" or "arranged ON today"?
My team is looking for a supervisor for our research project and we are currently in contact with one lecturer who asked us for a meeting today to confirm things. Problem is another lecturer contacted ...
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What's the rule of using "After" as conjunction in different tenses?
I am having confusion in this gramatical part.
Which Sentence is correct here?
1/I shall inform you after I have had the news
2/I shall inform you after I have the news
What's the gramatical rule ...
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past or future: later today
Can the phrase "later today" refer to the past as follows?
A: When did you give John the document?
B: Later today.
I'd appreciate your help.
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What is the correct order for several adverbs of time in a sentence?
In which order should I put the adverbs of time? Should I put the more specific adverb before the less specific one or the other way around?
What's the rule for ordering adverbs of time in a sentence?
...
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Lexical issue - the words "close" and "far" in terms of time
I need some help with a lexical issue. In my native language we have one word that means "close" both in terms of distance (meters etc) and in terms of distance in time. The same goes for "far" and ...
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time possessive [duplicate]
It will take 5 days to manufacture them
It took us half an hour to wait
If I want to change the sentences above to noun phrases, time's possessive form, can I write them as below, thanks in ...
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a week ago or a week before?
I saw the following isolated sentence in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, and there is a paraphrase inside the parentheses:
The baby was a week overdue (it was expected to be born a ...
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until now - ambiguity?
The Longman Dictionary has the following sentence:
Until now, doctors have been able to do very little to treat this disease.
Does it mean that doctors are still able to do very little to treat ...
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Can I use the expression "Back at" to refer to some event that took place some time ago?
Back at our summer convention all the girls were using blue dresses.
Back at our graduation party all the boys got together to sang her favorite song and most of them ended up crying like ...
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How long vs. How much time
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 ...
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"during which time" Vs "during which"
Jackson said the blackout lasted several minutes, during which time he felt no pain, even though he had fallen and hurt himself very
badly.
Jackson said the blackout lasted several minutes, ...
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What is the difference between "during a day" and "during the day"?
What is the difference?
I eat a lot during a day.
I eat a lot during the day.
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The difference between during a week and during the week
I thought that: "During a week" means any week and "During the week" means a specific week.
1) What do you eat during a week? - (every week)
2) What do you eat during the week you spend in Spain ...
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Can we use V3 or Ved after the "after"
I read a sentence in a blog
After applied for job in many companies, I was lucky enough to had
found a job related to my field of study.
Normally, we use after + Ving (in this case: applying), ...
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quarter to five p.m
Can I add a.m and p.m to the time? But I have to write time in phrases. So for example:
It's quarter to five p.m.
Is that right or not?
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"Today is rainy" Vs. "It's rainy today."
Is it correct to say "Today is rainy" (or "Tomorrow will be frost.")?
Normally I mention the time-expression in the end of the sentences as I was taught in past. For example: It is rainy today. It ...
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About telling the time
Is it correct to use ..."a quarter past to five" instead of "a quarter past five" for 5:15 ? I have watched "a QUARTER PAST TO" in a you tube video.I also googled it but couldn't find it. The link ...
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How to describe sequence in the past?
I can't describe it well so I'm going to tell you a sequence so that you can understand me and complete this sequence:
Next bill --> current bill --> the last/previous bill --> the bill before
...
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Already Aristotle observed that
For those who knows Russian here is my original question. The question is as follows: is there any other way to express temporal relations, that is to say that something has already been around since ...
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Does "all-month" mean "from month to month"?
There is all-day, but I'm not sure whether all-month exists or means "from month to month" or not. I can use month to month too, but all-month seems more suited in this writing:
No parenting book ...
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Use of present tense vs future tense
Because I feel that I am going to say so I always use following line:
"I will say/suggest that you must not go there."
Is above line correct? or, should I use following line:
"I say/suggest that ...
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During that time I saw or I have seen
I (see) ___________ Judy for more than five years and during that time I _______ (see) many changes in her personality.
My solution was
I have been seeing Judy for more than five years and ...
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'All week, all the time, all day' time markers
I have locked up the internet to find an answer to my question by unfortunately I did not find a clear answer.
So my question is: Are these time markers used for particular tenses (e.g: Past ...
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Is the word 'now' an adjective or an adverb in this sentence?
Is the word 'now' an adjective or an adverb in the following sentence? And I'd like to know whether the word 'now' can be a postpositive adjective or not.
There is no school in Myanmar now that ...
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Using prepositions with date and time
Can I use "We refer to the Insurer’s instructions at 1218hrs on 23rd July 2017"?
I'm not sure whether two prepositions at the same time are necessary or redundant.
Thanks in advance.
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When can you use "as soon as something will"?
I used to think that you can't use will with "as soon as", however, in a NY times article I've encountered the following text:
Asked what she wants to do now, Gul Meena says that all she wants is ...
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since May it has only rained once
In the sentence "since May it has only rained once," when did the rain occur?
Did it only occur after May (e.g. in June)? Or did it occur anywhere in the period between May 1st and now?
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Using the word “droughts" after it has rained
Since it rained today, then it will no longer be drought. So it is correct to use:
It had been droughts for days and finally it rained today.
or should I put it in:
It has been droughts for ...
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The difference between "so far", "by now", "before" or "before now" in the Present Perfect
Can I use this adeverbs of time in order to convey my experience which I've got at the moment of speaking? I mean:
I've done it many times before now.
I've done it many times by now.
I've ...
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At the third stroke the time will be 13:14
Are you familiar with the phrase "At the third stroke the time will be.."?
I just don't get it.
Many thanks!
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How to use "the day of the week" properly?
After having done some research, here are my understandings of the uses of "the day of the week", but I am not sure I am right.
First Source:
with a singular day of the week to refer to one ...
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Every half + time noun - no indefinite particle?
In most contexts, 'half' is followed by an article or pronoun when used as a predeterminer. However, the inclusion of 'a' or 'an' in the structure "every half ..." is considered grammatically ...
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While, when or as to describe for regular actions
I am trying to find a proper word to use in the following sentence.
While I am creating a schematic I always try to check every single
part several times
Or
When I am studying I always try ...
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"A few years later" vs "A few Years from now"
May I know for the following two sentences:
"A few years later" vs "A few years from now"
which is grammatical?
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