Hello again, guys! What's up?
It's time for us to focus on some language items concerning checking out.
Something very important when we talk about the checkout
is to be aware of the time you should leave your room
and hand over the keys to the front desk.
Typically, hotels have the checkout time displayed at the front desk
or even in some hotel policy documents available in the room.
But, if you have questions, just ask:
They'll probably answer you:
Notice that we used the question word "what"
combined with the word "time" to ask about the time.
For the answer, we use a preposition of time: "at".
When we want to refer to some scheduled time,
we need to use "at + hour".
And if we asked for the time, the question word will be the same:
"what time".
But the answer will not include "at".
Look at the example:
We didn't use "at" while answering.
And when we say "o'clock", we're referring to time on the hour,
that is, from 1 to 12.
So, we can conclude that we need the preposition "at"
when we talk about an appointment.
Let's see another example:
Here, we're talking about scheduled time for a shuttle,
so we need to use "at".
Are we good?
But listen,
if we want to know how long it takes from the hotel to the airport,
we need to ask about a period of time,
the duration in which something happens.
But then, to ask about periods of time, we need another question word,
which is "how long".
Check it out!
In this case, you can't ask what time,
because we're not talking about clocked time,
but about the duration that something takes to happen.
So, we have variations of the question word "how":
to ask about quantity, for example, we use "how many" and "how much",
and for duration we have "how long".
So, bringing back the question:
A possible answer would be:
Pay close attention to the prepositions,
"from 40 to 50 minutes".
That means the duration may vary, so the answer expresses a period of time,
and no longer a scheduled time, as in "what time".
Another example?
Let's say you were late to check out
and decided to request a complimentary late checkout.
You may wonder how long you can stay in the room.
Then you'll ask:
The front desk could reply:
Here we used "until" to express a period of time
that lasts from the time we speak until a particular time.
In this case, 3 p.m.
So far, we've seen some very common prepositions
to talk about time or duration
Let's recap!
But, guys,
the best way to learn prepositions is by understanding which situations
or combinations we can use them with.
For example, when we talk about time, we can talk about hour, duration,
but we can also refer to parts of the day,
such as "morning", "afternoon" and "night".
To talk about the morning, we use "in": "in the morning".
To talk about the afternoon, we also use "in": "in the afternoon".
For example:
And to talk about the night, we will no longer use "in",
but "at".
So, we have "in the morning", "in the afternoon" and "at night".
Note that the preposition varies according to the word it is combined with.
When we want to ask about the moment of the day, year or month,
in which a situation occurs, we have to use another question word:
"when".
"When" does not refer to time or period of time,
but to a broader moment in which something happens,
happened or will happen.
Let's take a look at another example:
We are not indicating time or period of time,
but the moment or part of the day when the situation happens.
See?
Depending on the idea we want to convey, we use "what time",
"how long" or "when".
So, it's very important to know the difference among them.
Now please do the follow-up activities!
And I'll see you some other time!
Take care!