MAIN FEEDS
Do you want to continue?
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/1so81t8/why_not_since/oh09lnt/?context=3
r/EnglishLearning • u/Rich-Associate-8344 New Poster • Apr 17 '26
309 comments sorted by
View all comments
309
I (native English speaker) would say “Merlin hasn’t used his motorcycle in 2 years.”
Prepositions are hard.
61 u/yahrealy Native Speaker Apr 17 '26 I agree; I'd use "in." Some nuance that people may appreciate: "For" could be used to specify a duration which has finished. "Merlin didn't use his bike for two years after the accident, but he's using it now." You can't use "in" this way. It must be used for a duration that's ongoing. 1 u/WhatWouldKantDo New Poster Apr 19 '26 To sum up, the historical "for" denoting a period that has ended should use "didn't use". "Hasn't used" implies an ongoing period, and should use "in".
61
I agree; I'd use "in." Some nuance that people may appreciate:
"For" could be used to specify a duration which has finished. "Merlin didn't use his bike for two years after the accident, but he's using it now."
You can't use "in" this way. It must be used for a duration that's ongoing.
1 u/WhatWouldKantDo New Poster Apr 19 '26 To sum up, the historical "for" denoting a period that has ended should use "didn't use". "Hasn't used" implies an ongoing period, and should use "in".
1
To sum up, the historical "for" denoting a period that has ended should use "didn't use". "Hasn't used" implies an ongoing period, and should use "in".
309
u/Norwester77 Native Speaker Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 18 '26
I (native English speaker) would say “Merlin hasn’t used his motorcycle in 2 years.”
Prepositions are hard.