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Which question is better?

 

Grammar questions– conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax, etc.

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  #1
Old October 17, 2012, 05:46 AM
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Which question is better?
How far is the beach?
How far is it to the beach?
What' s the distance to the beach?
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  #2
Old October 17, 2012, 05:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS View Post
How far is the beach?
How far is it to the beach?
What' s the distance to the beach?
Qué tan lejos está la playa?

Qué tan lejos (es) para la playa?

Cuál es la distancia a/para la playa?
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  #3
Old October 17, 2012, 06:05 AM
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My question was which one is better in English?
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  #4
Old October 17, 2012, 10:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS View Post
How far is the beach? = How far away is the beach?
How far is the beach from [point of origin]? = How far away is the beach from [point of origin]?
How far from [point of origin] is the beach? = How far away from [point of origin] is the beach?

How far is it to the beach?
How far is it from [point of origin] to the beach?
How far is it to the beach from [point of origin]?

What' s the distance to the beach?
What' s the distance from [point of origin] to the beach?
What' s the distance to the beach from [point of origin]?
These are all normal.

Leaving out from [point of origin] is normal if it is obvious in context.

In the first group, if you don't say from [point of origin] then including away is more natural, especially if you mean to imply from here.

The third group is, perhaps, somewhat more formal-sounding than the others.
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  #5
Old October 18, 2012, 06:57 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS View Post
My question was which one is better in English?
OK, then let me ask you. Which one is better in Spanish?
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  #6
Old October 18, 2012, 08:15 AM
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How far is the beach? - This works in the correct context, but in general could be interpreted different ways.

How far is it to the beach? - This one is fine.
What' s the distance to the beach? - This works, but sounds very formal.

My preferred version: "How far away is the beach?"
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  #7
Old October 19, 2012, 07:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS View Post
How far is the beach?
How far is it to the beach?
What' s the distance to the beach?

I like the 1st one but the 2nd one is also good.

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  #8
Old October 19, 2012, 09:02 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elaina View Post
I like the 1st one but the 2nd one is also good.
Unless we're standing on the beach. Then the question has a much different meaning =)

But I agree, "How far is the beach?" means "How far away is the beach?" 99.99% of the time, so it is the most common used.
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