earlier than my usual

hirashin

Sempai

Donor

8 Apr 2004

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• 6 Jan 2016

• #1

I think (a) would be used. But how about the others?
(a) I got up earlier than usual this morning.
(b) I got up earlier than my usual time this morning.
(c) I got up earlier than my usual this morning.
Thanks in advance.

Hirashin

 

J

johnnyG

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Fifteen-year veteran

23 Dec 2010

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• 6 Jan 2016

• #2

(a) is best, (b) okay, (c) is wrong.

 

Denisa

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30 Dec 2015

22

2

• 6 Jan 2016

• #3

a&b are good, the difference between them is that the b it's more explicitly, is no need to say "than my usual time",is understood already you're up than your usual time,so a it s enough. C is not good because you say "my usual" not than usual, and if you say "my" , my usual what? And you must to say time... I hope this is helpful

 

Scarlette07

Registered

7 Jan 2016

4

0

• 7 Jan 2016

• #4

a.) It sounds more fluid. I'd say it's the best among the three.
b.) It's grammatically correct. However, to indicate the word "time" when you've already used the word "early" is just far too redundant. If you said "early" or "late", you don't need to specify that you're talking about "time" since it's already understood based on the given context of the words.
c.) Erase "my". The way the sentence was formed, you're supposed to add a subject after the word "usual". If there's no specific subject, then you shouldn't use "my" before "usual".

 

J

johnnyG

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• 7 Jan 2016

• #5

As an adjective, "usual" is followed by a noun. That noun could be the subject of a sentence (The usual people came to watch the game), but it doesn't have to be (Round up the usual suspects).

"Usual" can also be a noun--imagine a bar or coffee shop that you go to very often, where you almost always order the same thing. You might go in and say, (Give me) / (I'll have) my usual, (please)."

 

J

johnnyG

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• 7 Jan 2016

• #6

hirashin said:

I think (a) would be used. But how about the others?
(a) I got up earlier than usual this morning.
(b) I got up earlier than my usual time this morning.
(c) I got up earlier than my usual this morning.

Click to expand...

To beat a dead horse, in (a) "usual" is being used as a noun. It is functioning as a replacement for "my usual time" in (b), which is a noun phrase.

"usual" in (a) could also be a substitute for "I usually do,"
"I got up earlier than I usually do this morning."

((Tho I'd prefer to say it as, "This morning, I got up earlier than I usually do." (Or, "This morning, I got up earlier than usual.")))

 

Last edited: 7 Jan 2016