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Questions tagged [time-words]

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Working from seven to eleven every night [closed]

When someone says to you "I work from seven to eleven every night. It really makes life a drag." What do you usually think his working time is? (from 7AM or from 7PM?) I thought that since &...
yatterman's user avatar
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2 answers
109 views

What's the difference between duration and span in the context of time?

one of the meanings of "span" from oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com: span — the length of time that something lasts or is able to continue the definition of "duration" from ...
Loviii's user avatar
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4 votes
8 answers
2k views

"I didn’t see her again (until) a few days afterwards." — How does "until" affect the meaning of the sentence?

an example from a dictionary (I couldn't find its source now): (1) I didn’t see her again until a few days afterwards. my variant: (2) I didn’t see her again a few days afterwards. How does "...
Loviii's user avatar
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1) A dictionary says "on a weekend" is a British informal phrase. Is it so? 2) "On the weekend of" is used in US and "at the weekend of" in UK, right?

As I understood, "at" is used with "weekend" in UK and "on" in US. But there are some examples in a dictionary that confused me. oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com: on a ...
Loviii's user avatar
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Can "the mornings" be used as an adverbial? E.g.: "The mornings it was raining, I went for a massage. The mornings it was sunny, I went to the beach."

I know that the prepositional phrases "in/on the mornings", "in/on the afternoons" and "in/on the evenings" can be used as adverbials. But I don't know whether the noun ...
Loviii's user avatar
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3 votes
6 answers
3k views

Can I use "I drew three snowmen until 4 p.m." in this case?

I didn't draw three snowmen at the same time. But I drew the first snowman from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m., then the second snowman until 3 p.m., then the third snowman until 4 p.m. Can I use "I drew ...
Biet's user avatar
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"This Monday Tom was late. But next Monday he won't be late." — Would it remain correct, if we used "next Mondays" instead of "next Monday"?

I'd like to know if the appearance of a plural noun after "next" affects articles. For this purpose, I came up with the following example: Today is Monday. Tom goes to chess on Mondays. He ...
Loviii's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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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 ...
VinceL's user avatar
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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.
Simo Ita's user avatar
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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 ...
Gerda's user avatar
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1 answer
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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 ...
1amroff's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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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 ...
HalvarF's user avatar
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1 answer
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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 ...
ForOU's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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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 ...
VinceL's user avatar
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1 answer
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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 ...
Chet's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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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 ...
Ujjwal Dixit's user avatar
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0 answers
28 views

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 ...
Stephen's user avatar
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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, ...
Garry302's user avatar
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5 answers
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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 ...
azz's user avatar
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1 answer
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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 ...
azz's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
472 views

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 ...
Arseny Aleev's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
46 views

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 ...
Ashraf's user avatar
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1 answer
84 views

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?
Student's user avatar
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0 answers
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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 ...
vidath007's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
584 views

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 ...
Mahodi's user avatar
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2 answers
2k views

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.
Apollyon's user avatar
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2 answers
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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? ...
Let's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
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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 ...
Oliver's user avatar
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1 answer
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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 ...
sinbadsuuny's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

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 ...
Apollyon's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
46 views

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 ...
Apollyon's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
70 views

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 ...
Itamar's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
8k views

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 ...
kuldeep sharma's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
16k views

"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, ...
soyeong's user avatar
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1 vote
4 answers
25k views

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.
user1425's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
6k views

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 ...
user1425's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
2k views

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), ...
LearningandWorking's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
2k views

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?
Mariya Damyanova's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

"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 ...
Virtuous Legend's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
82 views

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 ...
Prerna Krishna's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
80 views

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 ...
Michael George's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
100 views

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 ...
Michael Login's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

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 ...
Ooker's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
283 views

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 ...
ashish7249's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
4k views

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 ...
Ghassan Saeed's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
6k views

'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 ...
Ghassan Saeed's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
9k views

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 ...
thein lwin's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
431 views

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.
sanba06c's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
3k views

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 ...
ppp7777's user avatar
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0 answers
50 views

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?
Apollyon's user avatar
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