Page 58 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

■ He called her five times.
■ How many times did you run around the track?

■ I need more time to finish my homework.
■ It’s about time to leave.

4.8.4 IDIOMATIC TIME MEASUREMENTS

There are several idiomatic expressions involving time that may be easy for
English language learners to confuse.

Five minutes and 15 minutes are often used as casual time estimates rather

than exact measures, especially in the spoken language.

■ I was only outside for five minutes and the rain soaked me. = I was
outside for a short period of time, probably more than one minute, but

probably less than ten minutes.

■ We’ll be there in 15 minutes. = We’ll be there in more than five
minutes but less than 30 minutes.

On time means something is happening when it is supposed to.

■ We were on time for the meeting. = We were there when the meeting
started.

■ The bus was on time. = The bus arrived when it was supposed to.

In time means something happens, happened, or could happen, without being

late. We usually follow in time with a verb. Frequently, it appears with just, as in
just in time, which indicates that whatever it was, it happened with almost no

extra time to spare.

■ Will the hero arrive in time to stop the villain? = Will the hero arrive
soon enough to be able to stop the villain?

■ We arrived just in time for the movie. = We arrived right before the

movie started.