how many year a

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If a person wants to know how long a student is studying at uni, how should he phrase the question? Is this OK?:

-How many years a degree are you doing here?
-How many-year a degree are you doing here?

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Neither one of them is acceptable. Most likely, a native speaker would write: "Now long do you expect your degree program to last?" One might also write: "How many years will your degree program take?"

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@Setanta,

And/or

"How long is your course?"

0 Replies

@WBYeats,

Quote:

If a person wants to know how long a student is studying at uni, how should he phrase the question? Is this OK?:

If a person wants to know how long a student is going to study/has been studying at uni,

1 Reply

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Quote:
If a person wants to know how long a student is studying at uni, how should he phrase the question? Is this OK?:

If a person wants to know how long a student is going to study/has been studying at uni,

Maybe this is a British thing, but we say things like "How long are you in London?" when we are enquiring about intended/expected duration.

3 Replies

How many years have you been working on your degree?

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@contrex,

For Setanta, does 'Now long do you expect your degree program to last' mean the whole process or the remaining time of the program?

============================
In English,

I'm studying for 3 years=in the process
I'll be ...=from this point to a point in the future
I have been...=from a past point of time up to now

Does 'I'm studying for X years' not exist in US English?

3 Replies

@WBYeats,

Quote:

does 'Now long do you expect your degree program to last' mean the whole process or the remaining time of the program?

He meant to write "How..." of course.

That sentence, "How long do you expect your degree program to last?" would normally be asked of someone who had already started the course.
(others may disagree- it's debatable. The phrases "do you expect" and "to last" lead me to think that. This question is personal to the student. Overall, the minimum length of the course is fixed by the university)

Otherwise, we would ask
"how long is the course?
How long should/ will the course take?

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@WBYeats,

Of course you would appreciate that if,

Quote:

Most likely, a native speaker would write: "Now long do you expect your degree program to last?"

then that native has at best only a passing comprehension of any degree whatsoever.

1 Reply

@knaivete,

Hey! Fight!

I'll hold the jackets.

0 Replies

@WBYeats,

One might say that, although i would probably write "I will be studying for X years."

I am getting older. There is a phenomenon known as dysgraphia which manifests itself as one ages. (It is also apparent as a learning disability in younger people.) I meant to type "How," not "Now" . . . oh well, if it bothers you, sue me.

0 Replies

Thank you~

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

Yeats, I'd like to give you the vigorous tip, you should award the red ribbon to the best answer every time you post a question.

It better be me.

Meanwhile McTag would you mind letting go of the coat tails.

1 Reply

@knaivete,

knaivete, you sure have been posting like a PRICK in quite a few threads. Knock it off.

2 Replies

@contrex,

Quote:

posting like a PRICK

You, and your tags, titter.

Quote:

Troll, Idiot, Homework, Lazy Student, Do My Homework, Islamic Propaganda, Wanker, Crackpot, Nonsense, Move Along Nothing To See, Gungadick, Pervert Troll, Stupid, Meaningless Idiot, Crazy Drivel Ignore, Do My Homework For Me, Politics, I Am Lazy, Not Politics, It Is Spelled Conceive, Invented Fantasy, The Tranny, Borscht, Dalai Lama Said This Not Joven, A Riddle, Time This Dweeb Was Banned, h2oman Is One, Suckboy, Spelled Quandary, Wacko Nonsense, Gungatard, Less Raped Schoolgirls Perhaps, American Prudery, Under 13, A Demon In Bed I Hear, Jtt Alert, Gungacrap, Best To Ignore, Define White, Gooduseoftags, Whats Msdnc, Bad English, Racism, Anti Semitic Idiot, Wash Your Knob, Gonna Flunk Chem, Chechnya, Horse Droppings, What Is A Worl, Because You Are A Dildo, Nonsensical, Gungafood Tastes Like Dooky, Weird Spam, Another Tattoo, Should Be Called Trite Joven, Bad Title, Racist Idiot, He Is Greatknight Now, I Am A Loony, Tosser, Misplaced Apostrophe, Maths Is Proper Abbreviation, Gun Nut Propaganda, Yuck, Gun Crime, Claims To Be Aged 10, Contrex Teaches English, Book Of Hebrews Religion, Not For Stupid Americans, Ontology 101, Gungacopyandpaste, She Touches Your Pee Pee, Crazy Childish Gibberish, Gunga Idiot Treason, Grammar, Remove This Crap Please, Idiot Fake, Never, Ruined, Cialis Spam, Muslim Stuff Again, Gungadrivel, Bullshit, The Nazis Were Like Real Bad, Eat Something, Or Bash The Bishop, Suck Dick, Why The Apostrophe Jayteetee, Gibberish, Israeli Official Mouthpiece, Easy, I Am A Vagina, Israels Sock Puppet, Idiotic Hate Post, Dung For Brains, Have You Seen My Mom, Creep, I Cannot Spell Nonexistence, Hairy Women, I Am Stoned

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@WBYeats,

Quote:

I'm studying for three years = in the process

No one seems to have addressed this. I can't see how one might use this
in this "How long" type scenario, WB. That's why I offered what I did
in my first post in this thread.

"I'm studying for three years" as an "in the process" thing isn't part
of any dialect of English. It only has a future meaning, unless of course, I am
missing something.

As always,

context context context context and last but not least context.

1 Reply

@contrex,

Definitely not just a BrE thing, C. Scheduled duration is often described with the present simple.

But that's not at issue here. That's not what I was driving at.

0 Replies

@WBYeats,

Both those examples could certainly be heard in casual fast speech.

0 Replies

@contrex,

I thought Knaivete must have made those tags up, being as they are
so juvenile, so I checked,C.

The phrase,

Hoist with his own petard

comes to mind and it seems to aptly describe this situation of yours.

What do you think?

0 Replies

@JTT,

Quote:

"I'm studying for three years" as an "in the process" thing isn't part
of any dialect of English.

If we say this, the present continuous, we don't know how long the person has been studying/will be studying there. Do you agree?

1 Reply

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