How much time????

[ana2005]

Is it correct to say "How much time?" or do you always have to use "How long?" when you refer to time?
E.g. Is this correct?
"How much time did the concert last?"
Thanks, teachers.

[Johan[@CLT]]

Hi ana2005,

How much time did the concert last sounds a bit strange to me. I would use 'How long'.


Kind Regards

[ana2005]

Tnanks Johan. It sounds strange to me too, but can you think of any situation when "how much time" sounds natural? Or is it simply always wrong?

[Coffa]

Tnanks Johan. It sounds strange to me too, but can you think of any situation when "how much time" sounds natural? Or is it simply always wrong?

It can sound natural in certain phrases.

A patient to his doctor: "How much time have I got left, Doctor?"
Doctor: "It's hard to say. It could be weeks or years."

In the above example, "How long..." is also correct and natural. The choice depends upon whether you are concerned with the amount of time before an event occurs or the duration of an event.

So, your concert example sounds unnatural because you are asking about the duration of the concert. "How much time have we got left before this concert ends?" is a natural way of expressing the same sentiment.

[Johan[@CLT]]

Ana,

You are welcome.

But as Coffa has pointed out, "how long" is possible as well. The thing is that when I find myself in such a situation where I doubt about a certain construction or word use, I always go for the easy way out. I mean I go for the most natural one.

And "how long" refering to a duration is a bit unnatural

Take care peeps !!!

Kind regards

[MrPedantic]

Additionally:

1a. How long will X take?
1b. How long will it take to do X?
— you might use this to ask about the length of time that a task requires.

2. How long will X last?
— you might use this to ask about the likely duration of X.

3. How long is X?
— you might use this to ask about the duration of X.

4. How much time will X take?
— as #1.

5. How much time have I got?
— you might use this to ask how much time is allocated to you, or how much time remains (before doing something).

6. How much time will it take up?
— as #1; but the implication is of a slightly negative attitude towards "it".

MrP

[ana2005]

Thank you everybody. You've been most helpful