How much of the book have you read? - I'm on page ten.

[Alexey86]

Hello! I'd like to know what variants of questions and replies are used when we talk about progress in reading books.

Would you please check the following variants and add yours?

Questions:

a) How much of the book have you read?
b) How far have you read the book?
c) What page/chapter are you on?
d) What page/chapter are you up to?
e) Up to what page/chapter are you now?

Replies:

f) I'm on page/chapter ten.
g) I've read (up) to page/chapter ten.
h) I'm up to page/chapter ten. (This is from https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/up+to+something: I'm only up to the second chapter, but I like the book so far.)

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello! I'd like to know what variants of questions and replies are used when we talk about progress in reading books.

Would you please check the following variants and add yours?

Questions:

a) How much of the book have you read? :tick:
b) How far have you read the book? :cross:
c) What page/chapter are you on? :tick:
d) What page/chapter are you up to? :tick:
e) Up to what page/chapter are you now? :cross:

Replies:

f) I'm on page/chapter ten. :tick:
g) I've read (up) to page/chapter ten. :tick: OK with "up to" but not just with "to". (but less likely than f)
h) I'm up to page/chapter ten. :tick:

(This is from https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/up+to+something: I'm only up to the second chapter, but I like the book so far.)

I have marked ticks, crosses and comments above.

I'd probably use either "What page/chapter are you on?" or "How far have you got (with it)?" for the question. For the answer, I probably wouldn't use a complete sentence. I'd just say "Page fifty-six" or "Chapter four".

 

[Alexey86]

Thank you, emsr2d2! Is (e) grammatically incorrect or just unnatural?

 

[Rover_KE]

unnatural

 

[jutfrank]

Another option is:

How far through are you?

I'm still at the beginning.
I'm halfway through.
I'm near the end.

 

[GoesStation]

How far through are you doesn't work for me.

 

[jutfrank]

How far through are you doesn't work for me.

That's very surprising. It's very natural to me. In fact, it's the most natural of all.

Do you have any more to say about this? I mean, do you think this is because of the variety of English you use?

 

[Tarheel]

I'm with Goes on this one. (I wouldn't use it, but I would understand it.)

 

[Tarheel]

Abe: I'm reading Moby Dick.
Dave: What page are you on?
Abe: Page two. I've been on page two for months and months.
Dave: You don't think you'll ever finish, do you?
Abe: No, I don't.

 

[GoesStation]

How far through are you doesn't work for me.

That's very surprising. It's very natural to me. In fact, it's the most natural of all.

Do you have any more to say about this? I mean, do you think this is because of the variety of English you use?

It must be. Far and through don't collocate in American English.

 

[jutfrank]

How far through are you doesn't work for me.

I'm with Goes on this one. (I wouldn't use it, but I would understand it.)

Far and through don't collocate in American English.

How about giving an answer like I'm halfway through or I'm about three quarters of the way through?

 

[GoesStation]

How about giving an answer like I'm halfway through or I'm about three quarters of the way through?

Those are fine.

 

[jutfrank]

Those are fine.

?

So then what's the question that would directly elicit the response I'm halfway through?

 

[GoesStation]

?

So then what's the question that would directly elicit the response I'm halfway through?

"How far have you gotten in War and Peace?"

 

[jutfrank]

"How far have you gotten in War and Peace?"

That's not what I mean by the question that directly elicits the answer I'm halfway through.

A direct answer to this question could be I've gotten half way.


How far have you gotten?
I've gotten half way.

How far through (the book) have you gotten?
I've gotten half way through (the book).

The highlighted blue part is the 'question phrase' in each question, which is directly answered with the corresponding blue phrase in each answer. I'm having difficulty understanding how through can sound okay in the answer but not in the question.

I'd be grateful if other AmE speakers could comment on this.

 

[GoesStation]

There must be other examples of answer phrases that don't have perfectly matching questions. Is that really so unusual?

 

[Tarheel]

Abe: How far have you gotten in War and Peace?
Bob: I've heard about it.
;-)

 

[Alexey86]

People who respond to questions in everyday conversation normally provide the information they think is being asked for, not a precisely patterned response to the form in which the question was asked.

Jutfrank was talking about the form of the question, not the respond. We can say "I'm halfway through." Why can't we make the question "How far through are you?"

 

[GoesStation]

Jutfrank was talking about the form of the question, not the [STRIKE]respond[/STRIKE] response. We can say "I'm halfway through." Why can't we [STRIKE]make[/STRIKE] ask the question "How far through are you?"

There often isn't a logical explanation where normal usage is concerned. Some patterns simply aren't used.

Consider the common response That's fine. To the despair of learners everywhere, it's not natural to ask whether something is "fine". This is not my fault.

 

[Alexey86]

Why can't we (make) ask the question

I meant "make a question" as it is used in textbooks.