This car .....

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Jandi

#45134 Sat, 11 Sep 04 02:54 AM

Hello, teachers!

Would you please tell me if these are everyday expressions, and are there other expressions?

1. This car runs 15 miles a liter (of gas).
2. This car runs 15 miles per liter.
3. This car runs 15 miles on one liter.
4. This car gets 15 miles to the liter.
5. This car gets 15 miles by the liter.

Thank you very much.
Peace!

Jandi

Joined on Tue, Sep 7 2004

Full Member (348)

Expressions

CalifJim

#45138 Sat, 11 Sep 04 03:04 AM

I like 3 and 4 best, especially 4. I like 5 least; I don't believe I've ever heard that one at all. 1 and 2 are borderline. You can change 'runs' to 'gets' in 1 and 2.

Concerning 5, "by the [quantity]" goes more with this sort of sentence:

Joe loves chocolate milk. He drinks it by the liter.

My neighbor is an avid gardener with a huge piece of property. He uses fertilizer by the ton!

Paper is sometimes sold by the ream.

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (17,794)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

anon1

#45139 Sat, 11 Sep 04 03:05 AM

Jandi,

We rarely mix litres and miles. You are mixing English and metric units.

1) This car gets 25 km per litre. - metric

2) [or you will sometimes see the metric expression as X litres per 100 km]

3) This car gets 25 miles per gallon. - English

Note for [1] and [3] that the numerator and denominator switch places between the two systems.

MountainHiker

anon1

Joined on Fri, Jul 2 2004

Senior Member (2,049)

Expressions

rahul_mcsd

#45148 Sat, 11 Sep 04 04:36 AM

I have also heard "This car does 15 kms to the liter." being used quite frequently. Is this a correct usage ?

rahul_mcsd

Joined on Sat, Jul 3 2004

Indore, India

Junior Member (68)

anon1

#45151 Sat, 11 Sep 04 04:57 AM

Rahul,

That is quite common. I think it okay. It might be considered informal by some.

More formally, this car is rated at (or gets) 15 km per litre.

MountainHiker

anon1