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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

The usage of for

Hi,
I haven't seen her for five days.
Can I say 'I haven't seen her five days' instead of the sentence above?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Hi, No. Clive

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23 Answers
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Hi Clive,
Could you please explain why the answer is 'no'? Thanks a lot.
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Hi,
I'm inclined to say simply that 'for' is idiomatic in your example, because I can think of cases where you can omit 'for'.
In cases where we are speaking of periods of time, 'for' is very commonly used.

Clive
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It's always FOR + number + calendar-time-unit.

for five days; for six years; for three months; for ten weeks

You omit for in this pattern: ALL + calendar-time-unit/time-of-day-unit.

all day; all month; all year; all week; all
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Thank you Clive and CJ very much for your answers.
I still have some questions to ask as follows:

1. can I say
'I haven't seen her for all day/all morning'?
Or should I omit 'for' here?

2. I waited/stayed an hour/two hours.

Is the sentence correct? Can I omit 'for' when it's used right after a verb like the sentence here?

T
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Hi,
I still have some questions to ask as follows:

1. can I say
'I haven't seen her for all day/all morning'? Don't say 'for'.
Or should I omit 'for' here?

2. I waited/stayed an hour/two hours. This is OK, although you can also say 'for'.
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Hi Clive,

Are these sentences correct?

1.I have learned English for some/a few/many/a lot of years.
2.I have learned English some/a few/many/a lot of years.
3.I have learned English for years.
4.I have learned English years.
5.I slept for some/a few/many/a lot of hours.
6.I slept some/a few/many/a lot of hours.

Thank you very much for your reply.
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Hi,
Are these sentences correct?
If you are no longer learning English, just say 'I learned . . ''
If you are stlll learning English, say 'I have been learning . . . '.
I'll assume the latter situation.

1.
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Hi Clive,
Clive ''If you are stlll learning English, say 'I have been learning . . . '.I'll assume the latter situation.1.I have learned have been learning English for some/a few/many/a lot of years.
I don't understand why I can't say 'I have learned Eglish for...' to mean I'm still learning here?
Clive6.I slept some/a few/many/a lot of
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Hi,
Hi Clive,

(missing image) Clive

“ ''If you are stlll learning English, say 'I have been learning . . . '.I'll assume the latter situation.1.I have learned have been learning English for some/a few/many/a lot of years. ”
I don't understand why I can't say 'I have learned Eglish for...' to mean I'm still learning here?
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