early and soon

[namsteven]

Dear Teacher,

1) When do we use “early” and “soon”?

2) You should do/take exercise at least 20 minutes each day/everyday.

- Is this ok to say?

3) Was there much damage to you car?
- Why don’t we use “were” here?
- Did your car have much damage? ( Does this sentence have the same meaning with 3?)

4) He and I treated ourselves to a movie.
- What does this sentence mean?

5) To whom does the car belong?
- Who does this car belong to?

- Which sentence is right?

6) Which is the car you are referring to?
- Which car are you referring to?

- Which sentence is right?

Thanks very much.

Namsteven.

[Pete]

1) When do we use “early” and “soon”?
--Soon - compares a time to the present (i.e. compares it to the time of speech) or to a time specifically mentioned: I hope they serve dinner soon; I'm feeling really hungry. He started doing his homework at seven and soon he finished his English paper.
-- Early - compares a time to a specific fixed time or to the time something is expected to happen: I expect it to arrive early next month. He got very tired during the meeting, so he left early.

2) You should do/take exercise at least 20 minutes each day/every day.
- Is this ok to say? (Note: used this way, "every day" is 2 words.)
-- I think these are OK. I think "do" is most often used with specific exercises in mind: "He did his exercises every morning." The phrase "take exercise" may be more commonly used in Britain than in the U.S. It would sound more natural to me to use "exercise" as a verb:
- You should exercise at least 20 minutes every day.

3) Was there much damage to you car?
- Why don’t we use “were” here?
- Did your car have much damage? ( Does this sentence have the same meaning with 3?)
-- These both sound fine and mean the same. "Damage" is a mass noun (non-countable). It does not usually have a plural form. It is used with a singular verb.

4) He and I treated ourselves to a movie.
- What does this sentence mean?
-- It means the people involved attended the movie and each bought his/her own ticket.

5) To whom does the car belong?
- Who does this car belong to?
-- The first is formally correct, but it has a bit of a formal sound.
The second is common colloquially.

- Which sentence is right?

6) Which is the car you are referring to?
- Which car are you referring to?
-- Both are correct. The second is probably more common. I would only use the first if there was a very specific collection of cars to choose from.