Learn English – What’s the difference between ‘How long will you stay?’ and ‘How long will you be staying?’

tense

I was wondering the difference between 'How will you pay?', 'How will you be paying',

Somebody told me as follows,

How will you pay? – talks more about the ability to pay, can you pay for this
How will you be paying? – what you will be using to pay like cash, credit card, etc.

Now, I am wondering, what's the difference between

How long will you stay?
How long will you be staying?

Best Answer

In my own idiolect for sure, and I think also in my dialect, the two would be used in different contexts:

How long will you stay there?

How long will you be staying here?

If someone told me about a trip they intended to take to Europe, I might ask "How long will you stay?"

If someone from Europe had come to my town to visit family, I might ask "How long will you be staying?"

This is not a rigid distinction by any means, but a matter of frequency. I could also ask "How long will you be staying there?" but I wouldn't ask "How long will you stay here?" but "How long are you going to stay here?"

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