"I dated him once."

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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)

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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 (21,223)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Teleostomi

#279552 Thu, 12 Oct 06 11:00 AM

Thank you,

Mr Mic, your leaves are always faithful (from the song Tannenbaum)

Teleostomi

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

Denver, Colorado, USA, Earth

Senior Member (2,569)

Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert)

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