I'm afraid, you'll ignore me like you did/have for the past three months

[B45]

"I'm afraid you will/you might ignore me like you did/have/had for the past three months."


This was said from a guy to a girl. The guy is afraid she'll ignore him if he visits her.

Can this be said? Would a native use it? And what's the best combination?

 

[B45]

Can someone please take a look at this question? It's fallen off the first page.

 

[emsr2d2]

Please be patient. Six hours isn't a long time to wait for a reply on a Monday morning when the forum gets very busy.

Note that it was said by a guy to a girl. I would probably use "I'm afraid you might ignore me like you have for the last three months".

The comma after "afraid" in your title is incorrect.

 

[B45]

Please be patient. Six hours isn't a long time to wait for a reply on a Monday morning when the forum gets very busy.

Note that it was said by a guy to a girl. I would probably use "I'm afraid you might ignore me like you have for the last three months".

The comma after "afraid" in your title is incorrect.

Yes, thank you very much for your assistance!

Would - "I'm afraid you will ignore me like you did for the last three months." be incorrect or non-native, because that's what I overheard the guy say to the girl.

And I thought he should've said - "I'm afraid you might ignore me like you have for the last three months".

 

[Barb_D]

The "will" is okay - it seems the speaker thinks this is more likely than using "might."

I find only "like you have for the last three month" appropriate.

"...like you did the last time we were together" would work.

(You could also say the "past" three months instead of the "last" three months, since you seem to like to find multiples ways to say things.)

 

[Tdol]

I would use the present perfect, but I wouldn't say that the past is wrong.

Where was the guy from?

 

[Barb_D]

PS - Thank you for giving your thread a really meaningful title instead of "did/have."

 

[B45]

The "will" is okay - it seems the speaker thinks this is more likely than using "might."

I find only "like you have for the last three month" appropriate.

"...like you did the last time we were together" would work.

(You could also say the "past" three months instead of the "last" three months, since you seem to like to find multiples ways to say things.)

Yes, Barb_D, I try to practice multiple ways to say things so the conversation doesn't get boring. Also, this helps increase my vocabulary and fine tune my conversational skills.

 

[B45]

I would use the present perfect, but I wouldn't say that the past is wrong.

Where was the guy from?

I believe if I'm not mistaken the guy is from America.

 

[B45]

PS - Thank you for giving your thread a really meaningful title instead of "did/have."

You are very welcome.

 

[Barb_D]

I've been told over and over again that Americans use the simple past when the rest of the civilized world uses present perfect. I've found only a few examples of when this is true.

One of those examples is after "just." That is, "Eww! I just stepped in some gum" sounds fine to us though none of us would object to present perfect. I believe our British, Indian, Australian and other English-speaking friends would accept only the present perfect.

If the speaker is talking about an action that started three months ago (being ignored) and continues to the present, I would use only the present perfect. Yes, even as an American. However, I'd be interested to hear Tdol's opinion on this, since he says "did" might work too and I'm sure he'll make me smarter with his answer.

 

[Tdol]

Unfortunately, I have to say that with your example the past sounds OK to me.

I think it might be better to say think in terms of preferences rather than only accepting one form, so the differences are more of frequency- one variant may use the present perfect more than another with a certain adverb. Some grammar books will say that in BrE we use the present perfect with recently. We do, but we also use the past. However, in the negative, we almost exclusively use the present perfect. In BrE, already with the past is not at all common and many sentences that might sounds OK elsewhere will sound odd.

In the case of the last three months, the present perfect is the natural choice as the time continues to now. But the past simple does not sound like an error to me- the person could be thinking of being ignored on three specific occasions in that period of time, for instance. If the emphasis is on those occasions more than the time, then a speaker might choose the past. However, other BrE speakers may disagree- we'll see what they say.

 

[Barb_D]

I always like to hear from native speakers of other dialects because I find some of my assumptions/beliefs validated and some of them to be erroneous. I'm never upset to find I'm in error - it just helps me learn!

 

[B45]

Unfortunately, I have to say that with your example the past sounds OK to me.

I think it might be better to say think in terms of preferences rather than only accepting one form, so the differences are more of frequency- one variant may use the present perfect more than another with a certain adverb. Some grammar books will say that in BrE we use the present perfect with recently. We do, but we also use the past. However, in the negative, we almost exclusively use the present perfect. In BrE, already with the past is not at all common and many sentences that might sounds OK elsewhere will sound odd.

In the case of the last three months, the present perfect is the natural choice as the time continues to now. But the past simple does not sound like an error to me- the person could be thinking of being ignored on three specific occasions in that period of time, for instance. If the emphasis is on those occasions more than the time, then a speaker might choose the past. However, other BrE speakers may disagree- we'll see what they say.

What about - I'm afraid you would ignore me like you did for the last three months.

Would in place of might and will - Is this okay?

 

[bhaisahab]

What about - I'm afraid you would ignore me like you did for the last three months.

Would in place of might and will - Is this okay?

Not for me it isn't. Not with "I am".

 

[probus]

"I'm afraid I, you, he etc. would ..." is heard in these parts. But I'd be or I would be is more common.

 

[B45]

"I'm afraid I, you, he etc. would ..." is heard in these parts. But I'd be or I would be is more common.

Something like this: I'd be afraid you would ignore me like you did for the last three months.

 

[Tdol]

That works, but it's a bit heavy.