It's still a while until Christmas

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

I don’t if it’s correct, however, it sounds so… Here it is:

  • It’ll still be a while before it’s Christmas.

Is this sentence correct?

By the way last Thursday I was given my first vaccination against Covid.

Thanks.

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  • It’ll still be a while before it’s Christmas. (It will still be a while before it is Christmas. The word ‘while’ here means ‘time’. The phrase ‘a while’ indicates ‘some time’. Sometimes it is also preceded by ‘a little’, ‘a long’ etc.)
    So, in my view, the sentence is correct.
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Well, I guess it’s a slightly more complicated way of saying “It’s still a while until Christmas.”

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Thanks for your reply Anglophile.

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Thanks for your reply Torsten.

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To me the two forms seem slightly different.

Can we get a Christmas tree today?
No, it’s still a while before Christmas.
Can we get one on the Fourth of July?
No, it’ll still be a while before it’s Christmas.

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Arinker, yes there is a difference. They are different tenses - maybe.

If it is currently 1600, and I get off work at 1700, I can say,
“It’s another hour before I get off work.”

I can also say,
"It’ll be another hour before I get off work.

I don’t know the grammatical rule on this, but conversationally they both mean the same thing.

On the other hand, I could say, “After the meeting tomorrow afternoon, it’ll be an hour before I get off work.”
In this tense, I would not use “It is”.

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I’m so sorry for my late reply. I would like to thank both of you!

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Ok, now you can get your Christmas tree!

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I would suggest there is a subtle difference between

“It’ll be a while.”

and

“It is a while”.

The second simply states that there is a lot of time before whereas It’ll be a while says the same thing but indicates to the listener that they have to be patient as they wait.

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Speaking of Christmas, do any of you have a favorite Christmas song? Those of you who have been around for a while might remember which one is mine :wink:

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I tend to like more traditional peaceful Christmas music.

I don’t like most of the more modern rocked out Christmas music. But there are exceptions like the John Lennon song.

And the Jethro Tull song.

Now some traditional.

I think some of these singers could benefit from english.best, but it’s still beautiful.

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emphasized textThere are too many to just choose one, but one of my lesser known favorites is Some Children See Him.

As for secular songs, my current favorite is Christmas Wrapping.

But, I must admit, I always enjoy Grandma Got Run-over by a Reindeer.

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