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Lev Landau Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Perfect tenses -- IN or FOR + amount of time?
I often hear native English speakers use both IN + amount of time and FOR + amount of time in perfect tenses.
For example: He hasn't talked to his dad in/for a year.
My guess is that both structures are interchangeable in speech, I'm just wondering if there are any differences between them? Is one more grammatically correct than the other?
I'm sorry if this this question has been asked before but I tried and had no luck with the search engine of this forum nor google.
I'd appreciate any help.
For example: He hasn't talked to his dad in/for a year.
My guess is that both structures are interchangeable in speech, I'm just wondering if there are any differences between them? Is one more grammatically correct than the other?
I'm sorry if this this question has been asked before but I tried and had no luck with the search engine of this forum nor google.
I'd appreciate any help.
Top answer
Both are fine for casual conversation and writing. If it's more formal, I'd use for .
- Both are fine for casual conversation and writing.
- If it's more formal, I'd use for .
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2 Answers
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Both are fine for casual conversation and writing. If it's more formal, I'd use for.
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I believe that "in" sounds like an Americanism in the UK. A Brit would always say, "He hasn't talked to his dad for a year." Either preposition is OK in the US, but I guess "in" is usual.
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