Cách dùng How long, How many times

‘How long have you been waiting?’ ‘Only for a minute or two.’

‘How long have they been married?’ ‘Oh, for a very long time. More than 25 years.’

‘How long will the concert last?’ ‘It should be over by ten o’ clock, I think.’

‘How long was your stay in Malaysia?’ ‘The project lasted for two years, but I was there for two and a half years.’

‘How long have you been living in this house?’ ‘For 12 years now, ever since my mother died.’

‘How much longer can you stay?’ ‘Not much longer. For another ten minutes perhaps. I have to be home before midnight.’

Xin lưu ý cấu trúc này thường được dùng với giới từ “for” hoặc “since” trong câu trả lời.

• How long…? cũng có thể được dùng để hỏi về độ dài được đo đạc của một vật gì đó. Sau đây là một số ví dụ:

‘How long was the wedding dress?’ ‘It was very short, knee-length really.’

‘I see you are growing your hair. How long do you want it to be?’ ‘Shoulder-length at least.’

• Nếu bạn dùng cấu trúc câu How many times…?, bạn hỏi về con số cụ thể mỗi lần một việc gì xảy ra. Hãy xem các ví dụ sau:

‘How many times have you read that book?’ ‘At least ten times. I really like it.’

‘How many times did you visit them last summer?’ ‘Almost every weekend.’

‘How many times did the phone ring last night?’ ‘We must have had about twenty calls.’

‘How many times have I told you not to play football in the garden?‘

• Xin lưu ý cấu trúc How often…? thường được dùng thường xuyên hơn cấu trúc How many times...?

Khi bạn dùng cấu trúc này bạn hỏi một việc gì đó xảy ra thường xuyên như thế nào.

Không giống How many times…? vốn thường được dùng để nói tới những dịp trong quá khứ, How often…? được dùng để nói tới các tình huống trong quá khứ, hiện tại và tương lai. Hãy xem các ví dụ sau:

‘How often do you plan to play tennis this summer?’ ‘As often as possible. Every day, if I can.’

‘How often will you visit your mother in hospital?’ ‘I shall try to visit at least once a week.’

‘How often did you go to the cinema when you were young?’ ‘Every weekend, without fail. There was no television then.’

‘How often do you go to the big supermarket to do your shopping?’ ‘Not very often. Perhaps once a month.’

‘When you lived in London, how often did you go to the theatre?’ ‘We used to go three or four times a year – something like that.’