Question
Updated on
27 Apr 2020
- Russian
-
English (UK)
Question about English (UK)
What is the difference between I didnāt answer to you for a long time and I havenāt answered to you for a long time and Which tense is more appropriate here? past simple or present perfect? ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between I didnāt answer to you for a long time and I havenāt answered to you for a long time and Which tense is more appropriate here? past simple or present perfect? ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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- English (UK)
- French (France)
@Lias17
Well, tenses can be tricky, to say the least and to remain polite :-) Also, there are cases when Americans use the present perfect where the British use the past simple instead, which makes it all the more confusing. FOR can be used both in the simple past and in the present perfect. It all depends on what you intend to convey and most importantly what the time reference is.
Note: in the sense of āto reply toā, itās āto answerā and not āto answer toā which has a different meaning.
Examples :
* Last year, I didnāt answer (or reply to) my friendās texts for a long time because we had a row and I was upset about the whole thing. (simple past) => last year, past
* Once you have decided to get in touch again, you explain to him why you ignored his texts : I havenāt answered your texts for a long time because I was upset with you, but now I am willing to forgive you if you give me your new iPhone. (present perfect) => now, present
You can also use the past perfect, but Iāll leave it to you to figure out how to use it ;-) Itās pretty straightforward if you understood what I explained. You can always write again if you have further questions.
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- Russian
Thank you so much for such a clear and detailed answer!
- English (UK)
- French (France)
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