FOR or IN ages

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would you say "I haven't been to the cinema FOR / IN ages" or both? Is "IN ages" American English ? Are there other instances where we can use "IN ages"?

Thank you for your help.
Hela

[MrPedantic]

Hello Hela

I usually hear "for ages", in BrE; but "in ages" is also used.

We can use "in ages" in other contexts, when "ages" is a countable noun, meaning "eras":

1. "In ages past, when the earth consisted mostly of islands of volcanic ash amid seas of sulphur, giant Adverbs roamed vast forests of monocarpic Conjunct...."

2. "Oh God, our help in ages past/Our hope for years to come;/Our shelter from the stormy blast,/And our eternal home." (First verse of a hymn once much favoured by British schoolteachers.)

See you later!
MrP

PS: I'm sorry I haven't checked those exercises for you yet...will do so soon...

[hela]

Thank you MrP, that helps.
An internaut asked

Could it be that with "state" verbs for is more usual (- This place is a mess. - No wonder! I haven't lived here for years) than with "action" verbs (I haven't spoken to him in/for years)?

What do you think?

[MrPedantic]

I wouldn't like to say – I think I would tend to say "for ages" in both contexts! But to judge by the googles on

1. "I haven't * for ages"

and

2. "I haven't * in ages"

#2 is more of an AmE idiom. (It's certainly more common.)

But the other poster may well be correct, for non-BrE dialects! Maybe other members will have an opinion.

See you,
MrP