How long more?!?

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Some dude who claims to be an English teacher says 'how long more do I have to wait' is grammatically correct. He says when 'long' is an adverb, 'more' can come after 'long'. Personally, I've never heard of such a thing. Long more? He went on to argue that depending on situations, it could be either more + adverb/adjective or adj/adv + more. Really? I'm trying to collect some information from native English speakers so I can post the answers back to our discussion board. By the way, he's not American or British. He's Korean.

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Type: Question • Score: 6 • Views: 4,419 • Replies: 50

View best answer, chosen by Jaqen

@Jaqen,

I would never write or say 'how long more'.

How much longer.

I'm British.

1 Reply

@Lordyaswas,

Thank you. I thought I was on crazy pills. He still argues that I'm the one who's ignorant of English grammar.

0 Replies

Well, his Lordyship is an Englishman of the British persuasion, so, as an American, allow me to say that i concur with him. Your interlocutor is full of poop.

1 Reply

@Setanta,

Bwahahaha

1 Reply

@Jaqen,

I can confirm that I once had an interlocutor that was full of poop, but after cleaning out the filters, it now works a lot long more.

Joking.

1 Reply

@Jaqen,

Jagen it sounds fine to me tho I'd'v more likely said "how much longer"

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Quote:

Jagen it sounds fine to me

It's nonsense. Don't give bad advice to learners.

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

Quote:

It's nonsense.

So, Tes, I sprung it on my Better Half who I'm sure you will agree is much smarter than I, and she understood it instantly and perfectly. However she agreed with me that most of us would instead say "How much longer"

Quote:

Don't give bad advice to learners.

I'm such a terrible person

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Quote:

my Better Half ... understood it instantly and perfectly.

The point, which I think has escaped you before, is that this is a learner of English who has asked whether a phrase is correct English.

Many things said in broken or bad English can be quickly understood by native speakers. If someone said or wrote "The lake is much wide and his water is big deep", yes, we would probably get what they meant without too much trouble, but that person would rightly get it marked as wrong in a school test. Just saying "it sounds OK" is very bad advice therefore.

2 Replies

@Tes yeux noirs,

Alas, Tes, but Jag asks for input by"native American speakers." And indeed I am one. Yet after about 70 years in the field of Journ it still sounds okay

In my own defense I can only argue that much "irregular" English is widely accepted. But Jag, if I'm totally off base here I apologize most profusely

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@dalehileman,

Quote:

Alas, Tes, but Jag asks for input by"native American speakers".

Read it again. He says, and this is a direct copy:

Quote:

I'm trying to collect some information from native English speakers

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

Don't follatya, Tes. I'm a native English speaker and I provided some information

Edited to q, whether "native English" excludes native American. Alack, I'm a victim sometimes of technicalities

2 Replies

@dalehileman,

Quote:

Don't follatya, Tes.

If that means "don't folla ya", my reply is that you said he asked for (in quote marks) "native American" speakers to help, whereas he didn't, he asked for "native English" speakers.

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

Oh, okay Tes

0 Replies

Well, Tesyeux, Hileman has succeeded in trolling this thread because he got an kept your attention, which was all he was ever interested in. He habitually gives bad answers to English language learners just to get some attention.

1 Reply

@Tes yeux noirs,

You're right. My question, which I should've put more clearly, was whether 'how long more' is good English or not. Of course I knew what it meant when I saw it.

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@Setanta,

Is that so? That's not nice. Sad

0 Replies

Hileman is not a nice person.

2 Replies

@dalehileman,

I should've said 'native English speakers who are able and willing to give good advice to English learners'. Sorry, my mistake. I'll be more careful next time I post questions.

1 Reply

How long more?!?

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