how long

What temporal extent

How long asks about duration or extent.

For time: How long have you been waiting?

How long until we get there?

For physical measurement: How long is the bridge?

The phrase also appears in rhetorical contexts expressing impatience or frustration: How long must we put up with this?

duration

time

Measured passage of moments

periodPunctuation ending sentences
spanDistance between endpoints
intervalDuration between two points

hours · minutes · days · weeks · months · years · decades · centuries · wait · until

measurement

distance

Space between two points

milesLengths of 5,280 feet
kilometersMetric distance units
feetLower limbs' ends

meters · yards · inches · stretch · extent · far · end-to-end · dimensions · size · measure

inquiry

question

Request for information

wonderingFeeling curiosity about something
curiousEager to learn
estimateInformed guess at quantity

depends · varies · uncertain · approximately · roughly · exactly · precisely · timeline · deadline · ETA

Categories

time questionswhat time, when
question wordswhat, when, where, which, who
exasperationugh, sigh, groan, argh, geez

Opposites

temporal duration inquiry

how longwhen

Time interrogative

since when · until when

spatial measurement inquiry

how longhow tall

where · how far

temporal dimension queried

how longwhere

At what place

when · why · how · what · who

Family

long, length, how, longer, lengthy, prolong, prolonged, lengthen, elongate

Familiarity: Top 2,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G