Teleostomi  +  279531 Thu, 12 Oct 06 09:44 AM I dated him once. Does this mean (1) I used to date him. or (2) I only dated him one time? Teleostomi Joined on Sat, Jun 10 2006 Regular Member 557 Dates

	Mister Micawber  +  279534 Thu, 12 Oct 06 09:45 AM It could be either.  #2 is the expected, because used to is more common phraseology. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,501 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	khoff  +  280013 Fri, 13 Oct 06 05:56 AM I agree with Mr. Micawber (of course!) but I would add that in a conversation (rather than writing), if the emphasis is on "dated" it's more likely to mean "I used to date him," (I can't believe I actually dated him once!) and if the emphasis is on "once," it's more likely to mean "I dated him one time."  (I dated him once - that was more than enough!) khoff Joined on Sun, Mar 6 2005 Senior Member 3,216 Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert) Conversations, Dates