Which sentence is right?

[hollymolly]

Dear teacher,

I'm helping my son with his home work and I got stuck on the following sentence.

A rabbit runs _________ than a tortoise.

Should I use more quickly or faster in the blank?

And which one is more grammatically correct?

 

[Luka Nieto]

I'm not a teacher or anything, but I think I might be able to give you a hand.

It's "faster", as far as I'm concerned. Why? Ask a teacher for a deep explanation, I just know it, sorry I couldn't be of more help...

 

[hollymolly]

I'm not a teacher or anything, but I think I might be able to give you a hand.

It's "faster", as far as I'm concerned. Why? Ask a teacher for a deep explanation, I just know it, sorry I couldn't be of more help...

Yes, I agree with you, but what if I use "more quickly" instead?

Dear teacher please help and tell me, why I can't use "more quickly".

Thanks,

 

[Mohammadhelmi]

Hi

A rabbit runs _________ than a tortoise.
more quickly is grammatically more correct than faster in this example because we should use an adverb rather than an adjective.
quickly here modifies the verb runs.

A rabbit is _________ than a tortoise.
faster is grammatically more correct than more quickly in this example because we should use an adjective rather than an adverb.


1- A rabbit runs more quickly than a tortoise.
2- A rabbit is faster than a tortoise.
Both examples have the same meaning.

 

[mmasny]

A rabbit runs _________ than a tortoise.
more quickly is grammatically more correct than faster in this example because we should use an adverb rather than an adjective.
quickly here modifies the verb runs.

With all respect, do you think that 'fast' can't be an adverb? I think the opposite, and can't see any reason for not doing so.

 

[2006]

Hi

A rabbit runs _________ than a tortoise.
more quickly is grammatically more correct than faster in this example because we should use an adverb rather than an adjective.
"faster" is also an adverb.
At least in North America, native speakers would use "faster" in that sentence.

2006

 

[Mzungu39]

I think it's more a matter of meaning of the two words; quick and fast. I feel a slight differencebetween the two, though I'm not sure I can explain it. Because of that I think they are used in certain word combinations, as collocations. We say a 'quick reply' rather than fast and a 'fast car' (not quick). However they may be interchangable sometimes.

In my opinion both are correct in the two sentences as far as adjectives and adverbs are concerned; fast is also an adverb. It's just a question of common use or of which words collocate: run fast or run quickly.
I would say 'run fast'.

I think that 'fast' has got more to do with distance and 'quick' with time.

That's just my humble opinion.

 

[2006]

I think that 'fast' has [STRIKE]got[/STRIKE] more to do with distance and 'quick' with time. In some cases "quick" has more to do with time, as in 'We hope for a quick reply.'
But I don't think that either one has more to do with distance.

The original post concerns speed, which of course is distance divided by time.

I crossed out "got" because in my opinon it's a completely useless word.

 

[Mzungu39]

To 2006,

Don't you think there is difference in meaning and thus in the use of 'fast and quick? Can you explain it?

 

[2006]

To 2006,

Don't you think there is difference in meaning and thus in the use of 'fast and quick?

Yes, and I already indicated that I would use "faster" in the OP.

I will give you the following example of the difference between 'fast(er)(est)' and 'quick(er)(est)'.

Runners are in the starting blocks waiting for the starter to pull the trigger of his gun to start the race. The runner whose body starts to move first after the gun goes off has the quickest start. She didn't do anything fast; in fact, she didn't do anything at all for a split second after the trigger was pulled.
But the fact that she had the shortest time from the pulling of the trigger to the time her body started to move, shows that she had the quickest start.
I wouldn't say 'fastest start' because that can have a different meaning, which is that she ran the early part of the race faster than the rest of the runners. Maybe she slowed down later in the racer and other runners finished ahead of her.