long
part of speech
adjective (long, longer, longest); adverb; verb (long, longs, longed — to wish)
meaning for a pupil
1) Long tells how much length something has from one end to the other: «14 metres long». tree →
2) Long means having a big length: «long hair», «a long river». tree →
3) Long means lasting a big amount of time: «a long film». tree →
4) To long for something is to want it very much. tree →
5) (casual) «So long» means goodbye; «long time no see» means it's been ages; «long story short» means I'll skip the details. tree →
6) (casual) «Long» can mean boring or a lot of effort (UK slang): «homework's long», «that's long, man». tree →
7) (rude) «Why the long face?» asks why you look sad; «take a long walk off a short pier» means go away. tree →
8) (formal) Exams say «in length», «of a length of», «the duration», «longitudinal», «elongated» and «prolonged». tree →
sense in the lessons
how many metres or centimetres from end to end; «How long» asks for a length or for a time; phrases: «how long», «metres long», «hours long», «a long time», «as long as» (if), «long ago», «before long» (soon), «all day long»; in casual talk «long story short», «so long», «ages» for a long time, «that's long» (boring); in rough talk «how long you gonna be, I'm not waiting all bloody day»; in the exam voice «a length of 14 metres», «the duration of the journey», «the longitudinal dimension»
examples
- Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted; How long? (Torah NUM.24.22, JPS 1917) tree →
- 'Ye have compassed this mountain long enough; turn you northward. (Torah DEU.2.3, JPS 1917) tree →
- 'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that keep murmuring against Me? (Torah NUM.14.27, JPS 1917) tree →
- Lord, how long wilt Thou look on? (Writings PSA.35.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? (Writings PRO.6.9, JPS 1917) tree →
- How long will ye lay snares for words? (Writings JOB.18.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- The red ribbon is 14 metres long. How long is the rope now? tree →
- The film is 2 hours long. tree →
- How long is the pencil? tree →
- The Nile is a very long river. tree →
- How long did it take you to walk home? tree →
- You can play outside as long as you stay in the garden. tree →
- She longed for a puppy. tree →
- bus at 8:40, it's 8:25 now, how long? tree →
- Long story short, he ate 3 of the 5 pies. tree →
- Ugh, this homework's long, 20 sums! tree →
- A conduit of a length of 14 metres is reduced by 5 metres. State the residual length. tree →
- Why the long face? Did you lose the match? tree →
- Where have you been so long? tree →
note
«How long» asks for a length, or for a time. Trap: «how long did it take» is about time, not metres. Trap: «as long as» means «if», not a length. «long» as UK slang (boring, hard work) has no number meaning. «of a length of» in an exam gives a length. Opposite: short.
In the corpora
- And Hamor spoke with them, saying 'The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter.
- And the LORD said unto Moses: 'How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?
- Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
- And thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.
- And ye shall eat old store long kept, and ye shall bring forth the old from before the new.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «long» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.