「how much longer…?」則是指當某件事已經開始進行時,詢問「(從現在開始)要多久?」。
如果想強調「還要多久」的「還要」,「how much longer…?」是個合適的問法。
請參考以下場景的例句,是個在日常中常發生的餐廳客滿的情況。
Situation: At a restaurant
(場景:餐廳)
A guest: Excuse me, a table for two, please.
(顧客:不好意思,我們有兩位。謝謝。)
A server: I’m afraid, but we’re full right now.
(服務員:很抱歉,我們目前客滿了。)
A guest: Oh, OK. How long do we have to wait?
(顧客:喔,好吧!我們要等多久呢?)
A server: Well, I think it could take 10 minutes. Would you like to wait?
(服務員:嗯,我想可能要等 10 分鐘。您方便嗎?)
A guest: Yes, that’s fine.
(顧客:好的沒問題。)
—20 minutes later—
A guest: Excuse me, how much longer do we have to wait?
(顧客:請問還要等多久呢?)
Situation: A mother and her son are talking about dinner for today.
(場景:媽媽和孩子正在討論今晚的晚餐。)
Son: Hey, mom, what’s for dinner today? I’m starving.
(兒子:嘿,媽媽,今晚吃什麼?我餓了。)
Mother: Alright!! I’m gonna cook up a storm!! First, I need to go grocery shopping.
(媽媽:好!我會煮一大桌!但我得先去買菜。)
Son: What? Wait, wait. How much longer is it going to take?
(兒子:什麼?等等,妳買菜要多久?)
*cook up a storm 是個慣用語,代表「煮很多東西」
詢問時間
想詢問「要多久時間?」,我們可以使用「how long」或「how much time」。
「how long」
Situation: At a ticket office
(場景:車站售票櫃檯)
A tourist: Excuse me, I’d like to go to King’s Cross station. How long does it take from here to King’s Cross station?
(遊客:請問一下,我想去國王十字車站。從這裡到國王十字車站要多久?)
A ticket officer: Well, about fifteen minutes by tube.
(售票員:嗯,搭地鐵大約十五分鐘。)
A tourist: Alright, a return to King’s Cross station, please.
(遊客:好的,那我要一張來回車票,謝謝。)
*tube 倫敦地鐵(underground)的暱稱。地鐵的美式英語是subway
Situation: In front of a cake shop
(場景:蛋糕店前)
Customer A: Excuse me, are you at the end of the queue?
(顧客A:請問您是在排隊嗎?)
Customer B: Yeah.
(顧客B:是的。)
Customer A: How long have you been waiting?
(顧客A:你等多久了?)
Customer B: About fifty minutes or so.
(顧客B:約50分鐘。)
※a queue:排隊 在美式英語中經常使用「line」
「how much time」
Situation: On the Train station
(在火車站)
A passenger: Excuse me, can I ask something?
(乘客:不好意思,請問一下…)
A clerk: Sure, of course. How can I help you?
(職員:當然。我能幫您什麼嗎?)
A passenger: How much time is left before we arrive in Taipei?
(旅客:到台北還要多久?)
「how long…?」和「how much time…?」可以互換使用。
大部分的人會用「how long…?」,但不是很習慣「how much time…?」這個問法。「how much time…?」給人的印象比較有禮貌。
An immigration officer: How long do you intend to stay in the UK?
(移民官:你打算在英國待多久?)
A tourist: For three months.
(遊客:3個月。)
Situation: At a language school
(場景:語言學校)
Student A: How long have you been studying English here? Your English is very well.
(學生A:你在這裡學英文多久了?你英文很好。)
Student B: For about three months. Before I came here, I had been taking English online lessons. That helps me a lot.
(學生B:我來大約3個月了。在我來這裡之前,我參加了線上英語會話課程。那非常有幫助。)
詢問數量
詢問數量時,我們可以用「how many」「how much」。
詢問可數名詞的數量時是用「how many」;詢問不可數名詞的數量,則用「how much」。
<參考:不可數名詞的舉例>
money(錢)、water(水)、luggage(行李)、furniture(家具)
「how many」
Situation: Mari and Bob are talking about the weekend’s plan.
(場景:瑪麗和鮑伯正在討論假期計劃。)
Mari: Why don’t you play tennis this Sunday?
(瑪莉:我們週日去打網球吧。)
Bob: That’s a good idea. We should invite Anne and Mike
(鮑伯:太好了。我們也邀請安妮和麥克吧。)
Mari: How many tennis rackets do you have?
(瑪莉:你有幾個球拍?)
Bob: One. But we can borrow some rackets at the office.
(鮑伯:只有一個。但我們可以在服務處租借球拍。)
「how much」
Situation: At a ticket office
(場景:車站售票櫃檯)
A tourist: A return to King’s Cross station, two adults and two children, please. How much is the fare?
(遊客:我想要2位成人和2位兒童到國王十字車站的來回車票,謝謝。多少錢?)
A ticket officer: Sure. The total comes to…
(售票員:當然。總共是…)
「How much is it?」「How much does it cost?」是很基本的英語短語,相信大家都聽過。
A customer: Can I get a cheese hamburger and a large French fry? Oh, hold on. How large is the French fry?
(顧客:我想要一個起司漢堡和大薯。喔,等等。大薯有多大?)
A server: Here is a small, medium, and large box. I think the large one is quite big.
(服務生:這裡有小、中、大的盒子,我覺得大的蠻大的。)
A customer: I think the medium size would be fine for me. I’ll take the medium one.
(顧客:我覺得中薯對我比較剛好。我要中薯。)
*薯條在英式英語裡是「chips」,在美式英語裡則是「french fries」。
請注意一下服務生的台詞,「I think the large one is quite big.」。