ages vs long time

[Timoxa]

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #72 "At the End of the Day (1)", question 2

some who take ......... to wake up and some who jump straight out of bed first thing,

(a) long time
(b) ages
(c) periods
(d) lengths

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #72 "At the End of the Day (1)", answer 2

some who take ages to wake up and some who jump straight out of bed first thing,

Correct answer: (b) ages

Your answer was: incorrect
some who take long time to wake up and some who jump straight out of bed first thing,
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why not long time here?

Timoxa

[Alan]

Hi Timoxa,

If you wanted to use 'long time', it would need the indefinite articles 'a'.

Some who take a long time to wake up ....

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Ngoc_Ngocb]

Hi Alan ,
I thought ''ages'' means '' for many years'' but now I get it. Thank you very much.

[Hadeer]

Dear Alan,

Is it only "the definite article" or there is a difference in meaning?

Hadeer

[Vladimir13]

Hi teachers,

A short question. Is in the expression 'who take ages' all right with grammar? I mean, wouldn't be 'who takes ages' "more correct"? Why?

Thank you very much!
Vladimir.
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My little horse must think it queer...

[Beeesneees]

It depends on the subject.

I / you / we / they / <any 3rd person plural noun> take
he / she / it / <any 3rd person singular noun> takes

Here we have the 3rd person plural 'some', so need 'some take'

some who take ...
one who takes ...
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"Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."
Terry Pratchett

[Vladimir13]

Thank you Beeesneees!

Just for emphasising your answer...

'Some' makes a noun of the 3rd person plural:

some who take ...
one who takes ...

Vladimir.
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My little horse must think it queer...