How many hours or....?

[Dawood Usmani]

Hi teachers!
Is this sentence correct?
* How many hours' sleep do you have in a day?
Best regards!
Dawood :lilangel:

 

[stuartnz]

I'm not a teacher, but I see nothing wrong with that sentence. I would personally be more likely to ask "How many hours sleep do you get in a day?", but that could be a feature of NZ English. Certainly your question would be instantly understood by every native English speaker I've ever met.

 

[David L.]

No.It should be:
How many hours sleep do you have in a day. - no possessive case.
(short for) :
How many hours of sleep do you have in a day.

 

[stuartnz]

No.It should be:
How many hours sleep do you have in a day. - no possessive case.
(short for) :
How many hours of sleep do you have in a day.

D'Oh! I guess that's why I'm not a teacher - I didn't even notice the apostrophe.