How long does it take me to get to the nearest hospital? It's a two-hour drive

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Hi, @NearlyNapping, @Arinker, @Torsten, @Anglophile

Is my question correctly formulated; How long does it take me to get to nearest hospital? It’s a two-hour drive (to the nearest hospital) Or should I say: 'How long would it take me to get to the nearest hopistal?

What would you say?
Again, thank you in advance.

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How long does it take to get to the nearest hospital?

There is nothing wrong with using ‘would’, but I prefer ‘does’.

I’ve heard people in other countries think this is weird, but it’s common in the US to answer the question “How far is it…?” to answer with how long it takes to drive or walk there.

Q: How far is the nearest hospital?
A: About two hours.
or
A: About a two hour drive.

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Thank you NN,

Your version is simpler and more direct. I don’t think it’s weird at all, because now that you posted this message, I recall people saying this. Probably people in other countries would find the following weird as well: ‘No one your age would be able to sing as lovely as you.’ I hope my sentence is correct, or should I say: ‘…as you do’?

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A lot of people (probably the majority) would omit ‘do’. You could argue that it completes the sentence, but it’s implied and not needed.

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Hi NN,

Thanks fot your reply, but is it also ok to say: No one your age… Oh, sorry, you’ve already made it clear.

Sorry.

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I’d go for How far is the nearest hospital?
Please note to use ‘the’ before the superlative degrees in contexts like this.

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I didn’t know which part of the sentence you were asking about. Yea, “no one your age” is fine.

Just for the record, No one and nobody mean the same thing. I have read that some people consider no one to be slightly more formal, but I think that’s pure opinion. Supposedly nobody is more commonly used.

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Thank you all for your replies.

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