Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[rayt]

Dear teachers,

Please help me how to speak correct English:

1. which one of below is correct? Or they are both correct under different situation?
How long does it take you to get to school?
How long does it take to get to school?

2. Say I go to school by bus. And the bus ride is 30 minutes.
Can I say…
I take a bus to school for 30 minutes. or
It takes me 30 minutes to go to school by bus.
Or what should be the correct English?

3. say I go to school on [my] foot and it takes 30 minutes.
Can I say…
I walk to school for 30 minutes. or
It takes me 30 minutes to go to school on [my] foot.
Or what should be the correct English?

4. Say I go to school by bus. And the bus ride is 30 minutes. THEN after the bus ride I walk for 10 minutes to get to school.
Can I say…
I take a bus to school for 30 minutes and walk for 10 minutes. or
I go to school by a 30-min bus ride and walk for 10 minutes. or
It takes me 30 minutes by bus and 10 minutes walking to go to school.
Or what should be the correct English?

Please help me out.

[IanT]

1. Both fine.

2. and 3. "for" sounds unnatural here. Second sentence much better. "on foot", no "my".

4. 3rd sentence good, others not natural.

And in all cases, slightly more native to say "It takes me..... to get to school"

Hope helps,
Ian
_________________
All my answers refer to British English.

www.EnglishSwearing.com - How to use all the bad words! ... and ... www.throdworld.com - Silly verses to make you happy.

You decide the price for both!

[rayt]

Thank you, teacher.

Furthermore, for 2 sentences below:
a. It takes me 30 minutes by bus and 10 minutes walking to get to school.
b. I go to school by a 30-minute bus ride plus 10-minute walking.

My questions are:
1. is it still that sentence a. better, natural and more native?
2. is sentence b. grammatically correct, but not native and natural?


I need your help desperately. Thank you.

[IanT]

Yes, A. is the more natural and native of the two.

B. I can't say it's wrong (apart from minutes needs an s), but no one would ever say it. That's the trouble with English!

Best wishes,
ian
_________________
All my answers refer to British English.

www.EnglishSwearing.com - How to use all the bad words! ... and ... www.throdworld.com - Silly verses to make you happy.

You decide the price for both!