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Regarding the following sentence:

I don't need to waste 2 hours on the way to and back from work anymore.

Is the phrase 'to and back from work' correct? I want to use it in an informal letter to a friend for Ielts writing task 1, so it needs to sound natural and totally correct. If not, could you please tell me the possible correct ways of saying that?

Thanks in advance, Mojtaba

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  • 2
    to and from work is more idiomatic, so is there and back.
    – KarlG
    Commented Aug 17, 2019 at 14:05
  • 1
    "To work and back" is common.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 17, 2019 at 14:53
  • "Back and forth" is also common. I suspect there are regional difference.
    – jimm101
    Commented Jan 23, 2020 at 12:10
  • 'To and fro' is the idiomatic; when 'from' is used, 'back' is redundant.
    – Ram Pillai
    Commented Jan 23, 2020 at 13:57

2 Answers 2

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To and from work

‘To and from work’ is the phrase that would normally be used, in English.

Example:

  • I don't need to waste 2 hours on the way to and from work anymore.

  • The man made the journey to and from London every day.

  • It takes 3 hours to get to and from Brighton.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/from

You can also use ‘to and fro’ which describes the repeated movement of something going ‘back and forth’ - like a pendulum swinging.

  • The man goes to and fro daily from London to Brighton.

  • The pendulum swings to and fro.

  • The waiters were going to and fro among the tables.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/from

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/to-and-fro

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Traveling to and from work is known as commuting.

travel some distance between one's home and place of work on a regular basis.

Oxford

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  • But with no capital first letter.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 17, 2019 at 19:26
  • Thank you for making that point. I assumed Title Case was appropriate for a pithy reply but it does seem that only archaic journals use the style for emphasis.
    – user356866
    Commented Aug 19, 2019 at 6:10
  • Why does this have 3 downvotes? Commuting seems very appropriate to me (or is there some other reason?). +1
    – Justin
    Commented Aug 19, 2019 at 17:46
  • Thanks for the defense, I was a little surprised by the downvotes but will be very much aware of correct form next time.
    – user356866
    Commented Aug 20, 2019 at 14:17
  • Absolutely agree with @Justin - commuting is very appropriate and more widespread from my experience.
    – Sereger
    Commented Aug 21, 2019 at 11:00

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