I haven't seen you for five minutes alone today

[nq:1]I haven't seen you for five minutes alone today (The Edge, by Francis, p127) When I came to this ... seen you alone today but for five minutes. How do you think of this setence of the novel in grammar?[/nq]
I take it as a complaint that the speaker has not been able to be alone with the addressee not even for only five minutes.

Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.c

I haven't seen you for five minutes alone today
(The Edge, by Francis, p127)
When I came to this sentence above, I was confused. I couldn't get it well.
But from context it means:
I saw you alone only five minutes altogether today. Or, I haven't seen you alone today but for five minutes.

How do you think of this setence of the novel in grammar?
I don't usually comment

[nq:1]I haven't seen you for five minutes alone today (The Edge, by Francis, p127) When I came to this ... seen you alone today but for five minutes. How do you think of this setence of the novel in grammar?[/nq]
The grammar is ok, but it's an awkward sentence.

john

[nq:2]I haven't seen you for five minutes alone today (The ... you think of this setence of the novel in grammar?[/nq]
[nq:1]The grammar is ok, but it's an awkward sentence.[/nq]
The grammar is OK, but if it really means "I've only been alone with you for five minutes today" then it isn't saying what it wants to say.

I would take it to mean "Today I haven't been alone with you for

[nq:2]I haven't seen you for five minutes alone today (The ... you think of this setence of the novel in grammar?[/nq]
[nq:1]The grammar is ok, but it's an awkward sentence.[/nq]
It's part of a conversation between two characters. Any author that attempts to represent conversation by using only grammatical construction is going to write dull stuff. People do use awkward construction in con

[nq:2]The grammar is ok, but it's an awkward sentence.[/nq]
[nq:1]The grammar is OK, but if it really means "I've only been alone with you for five minutes today" then ... I would take it to mean "Today I haven't been alone with you for even a short period of time".[/nq]
Expanding a bit:
In English phrases like "a minute" or "five minutes" are often used to mean a short period of time,

[nq:2]The grammar is ok, but it's an awkward sentence.[/nq]
[nq:1]It's part of a conversation between two characters. Any author that attempts to represent conversation by using only grammatical construction ... People do use awkward construction in conversation. Awkward or not, it's something that would be said, and would be understood.[/nq]
Apart from context, it's possible to interpret,

[nq:2]It's part of a conversation between two characters. Any author ... it's something that would be said, and would be understood.[/nq]
[nq:1]Apart from context, it's possible to interpret, isn't it: I didn't see you alone today for five minutes, (meaning the rest of the day I have always seen you).[/nq]
No, the meaning is that I've only been able to be with you, and you alone, for five

[nq:2]The grammar is ok, but it's an awkward sentence.[/nq]
[nq:1]It's part of a conversation between two characters. Any author that attempts to represent conversation by using only grammatical construction is going to write dull stuff. People do use awkward construction in conversation.[/nq]
Why do you think people do that? I think they use characteristically smooth constructions in spee

[nq:2]It's part of a conversation between two characters. Any author ... it's something that would be said, and would be understood.[/nq]
[nq:1]Apart from context, it's possible to interpret, isn't it: I didn't see you alone today for five minutes, (meaning the rest of the day I have always seen you). To be honest, I'm quite confused.[/nq]
It's also possible that 'alone' qualifies 'five mi