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Posted by: koichiro Nov 19 2009, 02:51 AM

Hello.

I've seen the following expression:

1. ( a ) did you send love letters to her?

(1) How long (2) For how long

According to the answer book, the only answer for #1 is (2), not (1).

In this case, (1) is wrong, isn't it?

Then, would you take a look at the following?

2. ( b ) have you lived here?

(1) How long (2) For how long

I think the answer for #2 is (1), right?

I also think some answers for both sentences are probably the following:

#1: For two years (or something like that)
#2: For two years (days, weeks, and so on)

If the answers are appropriate, then what's the difference between "For how long" and "How long"?
According to some dictionaries, "long" in the former expression is a noun because "For" requires its "object."
Also the dictionaries say that "for how long ...?" is a kind of "set" phrase. I understand it, too.
I see what kinf of grammar rule is used here, but I don't clearly understand the difference in meaning.
In what situation, is "For how long...?" used?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.
I really hope you'll understand my question.

koichiro

Posted by: Subordinate Claws Nov 19 2009, 07:22 AM

QUOTE (koichiro @ Nov 19 2009, 01:51 AM)

Hello.

I've seen the following expression:

1. ( a ) did you send love letters to her?

(1) How long (2) For how long

According to the answer book, the only answer for #1 is (2), not (1).

In this case, (1) is wrong, isn't it?

Then, would you take a look at the following?

2. ( b ) have you lived here?

(1) How long (2) For how long

I think the answer for #2 is (1), right?

I also think some answers for both sentences are probably the following:

#1: For two years (or something like that)
#2: For two years (days, weeks, and so on)

If the answers are appropriate, then what's the difference between "For how long" and "How long"?
According to some dictionaries, "long" in the former expression is a noun because "For" requires its "object."
Also the dictionaries say that "for how long ...?" is a kind of "set" phrase. I understand it, too.
I see what kinf of grammar rule is used here, but I don't clearly understand the difference in meaning.
In what situation, is "For how long...?" used?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.
I really hope you'll understand my question.

koichiro

Interesting, Koichiro. How long and for how long have their place. I would say that when there is any possibility that, in your case, the "letter" question could have two meanings -- length of time or length of the letters -- you have to ask "For how long?" E.g.:

"Did you send letters to her."

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"For two years." (Or just "Two years" if you guessed the meaning correctly.)
__________

"Did you send letters to her?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Oh, some letters were two pages long, others were maybe four pages long."

"No, silly. I meant "for how long.'"

"Oh. Two years."
____

"How long have you lived here?"

"Two years."

Here, there can be no potential confusion about the question. It's length-of-time only, so you can take a shortcut and reply with "Two years." Or, "For two years."

Posted by: Sparky Nov 19 2009, 09:29 AM

I agree with what Claws said, but I still don't see anything wrong with "How long did you send love letters to her?" In fact "For how long did you send ..." sounds a bit awkward, though it is grammatically correct. I think your book is wrong. Maybe it was a typo.

As Claws said, sometimes "for how long" is needed for clarity, but there is no way that "How long did you send letters?" could be misconstrued as "How long were the letters you sent?"

Posted by: koichiro Nov 19 2009, 09:50 AM

QUOTE (Sparky @ Nov 19 2009, 10:29 AM)

I agree with what Claws said, but I still don't see anything wrong with "How long did you send love letters to her?" In fact "For how long did you send ..." sounds a bit awkward, though it is grammatically correct. I think your book is wrong. Maybe it was a typo.

As Claws said, sometimes "for how long" is needed for clarity, but there is no way that "How long did you send letters?" could be misconstrued as "How long were the letters you sent?"

Thank you very much for the replies, Claws and Sparky.
Actually, I've never seen the expression "For how long...?" until I saw this question sentence.
The original story was like the following:

A male kept on sending letters to a female who he was in love with.
He sent her letters for two years.
The same mailman delivered the letters to her with his big smile.
Finally, she got married to the mail deliverer.

Then, there was that question:

1. ( A ) did he send letters to her? (or something like that)

The choices were "For how long" or "How long" and the answer was the former.

To tell the truth, before posting this question, I asked the Australian guy in my school, who works as an English teacher and adviser, about this. He said, "It's a quite common expression, and if you leave out 'For' from the sentence, it will sound awkward in this case." I understood his explanation grammatically, but I didn't think I got it. So, I asked this to you, boarders.

Thank you again for the help, Claws and Sparky.

koichiro

Posted by: Sparky Nov 19 2009, 05:04 PM

QUOTE (koichiro @ Nov 19 2009, 09:50 AM)

To tell the truth, before posting this question, I asked the Australian guy in my school, who works as an English teacher and adviser, about this. He said, "It's a quite common expression, and if you leave out 'For' from the sentence, it will sound awkward in this case."
koichiro

I would have said the opposite. This illustrates the differences between Australian and American English.

Posted by: koichiro Nov 20 2009, 03:09 AM

Thanks for the additional comment, Sparky.
It will be of great help to me.

koichiro

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