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Latest post Wed, Oct 29 2003 6:22 PM by azz. 1 replies.
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azz  +  11723 Wed, 29 Oct 03 06:22 PM

-What were you supposed to do that you didn't do?
1-I didn't read the letter and I didn't talk to John.
2-I didn't read the letter and talk to John.

Do 1 and 2 mean exactly the same in this context?
azz
Joined on Sun, Oct 5 2003
New Member 42
Raul  +  11734 Wed, 29 Oct 03 11:07 PM
In the first one, you were supposed to read the letter and talk to John, but you didn't do ANY of both.

The second one is wrong because of time concordance. It could have been:

I didn't read the letter and talked to John.
(= you didn't read the letter but you sure talked to John)

Those sentences are not equivalent. Compare:

I didn't either read the letter or talk to John.
or
I neither read the letter nor talked to John.

Both mean the same as the very first one.

Hope this helps! Smile [:)]
Joined on Mon, Sep 1 2003
Lima - Peru
Full Member 221
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