Hela  +  217714 Wed, 19 Apr 06 07:48 PM Dear teachers, Would you say "I haven't been to the cinema FOR  /  IN ages" or both? Is "IN ages" American English ? Are there other instances where we can use "IN ages"? Thank you for your help. Hela Hela Joined on Mon, Nov 15 2004 Tunisia Regular Member 831 American English

	Grammar Geek  +  217718 Wed, 19 Apr 06 07:51 PM American English speaker here: I'd say "...in ages." Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 20,853 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Hela  +  217722 Wed, 19 Apr 06 07:59 PM Grammar Geek, would you please give me other examples where you would say "IN ages"? Hela Grammar

	Grammar Geek  +  217729 Wed, 19 Apr 06 08:19 PM It's just an informal expression meaning "in a very long time. Come on, let's go to lunch. We haven't been out together for lunch in ages. Oh my gosh - I haven't seen you in ages! Also, you can use "it's been ages since." Mom, it's been ages since you said we could go to the park. When are we leaving? (Translation for a 7 year old: at least 15 minutes) It's been ages since we've been to this restaurant - look what's happened to the prices. Does that help? Grammar Geek Translation

	MrPedantic  +  217831 Thu, 20 Apr 06 01:36 AM Either would do, in BrE; but "for" is probably more usual. MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,679 ...opella forensis / adducit febris...