why did he stop...if he ever did

[alpacinou]

Hello.

I want to write a question which means this: Why did he stop caring about you if he ever cared in the first place?

I have shortened it to this version:

Why did he stop caring about you if he ever did?

Now, my problem is that the sentence might confuse the reader and might be read like this: Why did he stop caring about you if he ever stopped caring about you?

How can I fix that? Do I have to repeat "care"? Is there a way to do it without repeating care?

 

[Tarheel]

You can use punctuation to make it clear what you mean. For example:

Why did he stop caring about you -- if he ever did?

 

[alpacinou]

What if it's a line from a movie?

 

[emsr2d2]

Character name: Why did he stop loving you ... if he ever did?

 

[alpacinou]

Character name: Why did he stop loving you ... if he ever did?

Am I right in assuming that this could be a bit confusing?

Laura: Why did he stop loving you ... if he ever did? = Why did he stop loving you ... if he ever stopped loving you?

I want it to mean this: Why did he stop loving you ... if he ever love you?

 

[Tarheel]

The "if he ever did" is short for "if he ever did love you".