long
used to talk about length
You use long when you are talking about the length of something.
The pool is ninety feet long by twenty feet wide.
How long is that side of the triangle?
talking about distance
You use a long way to talk about the distance from one place to another. You say, for example, ‘It’s a long way from here to Birmingham'.
I'm a long way from London.
Be careful
Don't say ‘It’s long from here to Birmingham' or ‘I’m long from London'.
Don't say ‘It’s long from here to Birmingham' or ‘I’m long from London'.
In negative sentences, you use far. You say, for example, ‘It’s not far from here to Birmingham'.
We rented a villa not far from the beach.
You also use far in questions. You say, for example, ‘How far is it from here to Birmingham?’
How far is Tokyo from here?
Be careful
Don't use ‘long’ in negative sentences and questions like these.
Don't use ‘long’ in negative sentences and questions like these.
When you are talking about the extent of a journey, you use as far as, not ‘as long as’. You say, for example, ‘We walked as far as the church’.
We went with Harold as far as Bologna.
used to talk about time
In a negative sentence or a question, you can use long as an adverb to mean ‘a long time’.
Wilkins hasn't been with us long.
Are you staying long?
You can also use long to mean ‘a long time’ after too or in front of enough.
He's been here too long.
You've been here long enough to know what we're like.
However, don't use ‘long’ with this meaning in any other kind of positive sentence. Instead use a long time.
We may be here a long time.
It may seem a long time to wait.
The comparative and superlative forms longer and longest can be used with this meaning in any kind of positive sentence.
Reform in Europe always takes longer than expected.
The study found that people who walk a lot live longest.
‘no longer’
When something that happened in the past does not happen now, you can say that it no longer happens or that it does not happen any longer.
The factory no longer builds cars.
I noticed that he wasn't sitting by the door any longer.