Subj : articles are a good subject
To   : alexander koryagin
From : Anton Shepelev
Date : Sat Oct 07 2017 15:43:56

Alexander Koryagin to Anton Shepelev:

AK>>> We haven't talked of articles for a long time.
AS>>
AS>> Let   the   native  speakers correct me if I be
AS>> wrong, but I think that "in a  long  time"   is
AS>> better  here, for "for" denotes the timespan of
AS>> an action and "in" a  generic  length  of  time
AS>> during  which one or several actions may or may
AS>> not have occured.
AK>
AK> "For" is a standard preposition for the  Present
AK> Perfect Tense.

Prepositions  denote  the  mode  in which a thing is
mentioned and tenses denote  time.   I  don't  think
they  are  connected, with rare exceptions, e.g.  "I
was in Russia" and "I have been to Russia", but even
that is contested:

  To for At. "We have been to church," "I was to the
  theater." One can go to a place, but one cannot be
  to it. -- Ambrose Bierce in "Write it Right".

AK> "In" is IMHO valid when we talk about the period
AK> when something to be done. "I will have finished
AK> it in two weeks."

Correct,  but it is another meaning.  "in" is possi-
ble in the your original sentence, but I  am  uncer-
tain whether it is formal or colloquial, AmE or BrE:

  https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/46519/for-a-long-time-vs-in-a-long-time
  https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/6324-in-a-long-time-for-a-long-time
  https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/in-a-long-time-vs-for-a-long-time.2371239/

AK> [occurred]

Thank you.  Is it you or your spell checker that no-
tice(s) my orthographical mistakes?  If  the  former
then I compliment your observance.

AS>> Not to mention the difference between "talk of"
AS>> and "talk about".
AK>
AK> "Of" is often used along with "about".  In  Rus-
AK> sian  we  also  have  two  similar prepositions:
AK> "pro" (of) and "o" (about).

Meseems that in English "talk of" refers to a  casu-
al,  even  tangential, meantion whereas "talk about"
denotes a more focused discussion.

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 * Origin: *** nntp://fidonews.mine.nu *** Finland *** (2:221/6.0)

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