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Jane: He's been pressuring me to see them for a long time. I have also been pressuring myself. It's just not that easy when you're not feeling well.

(He = Jane's ex-husband)

(Them = Jane's and her ex-husband's children)

Context: Jane has had and is having a depression so she hasn't seen her children a lot as she has been suffering.

Question: Can I use "for a long time" here even though Jane has seen her children a few times (but far from enough) since she got the depression?

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  • "for a long time now" would be more accurate given your situation. Sep 22, 2020 at 14:07
  • [since she got depressed: got=to become]
    – Lambie
    Sep 22, 2020 at 17:29
  • Yes, because "for a long time" refers to how long her ex has been pressuring her, not how long it's been since she's seen her kids.
    – gotube
    Jul 4, 2021 at 7:54

2 Answers 2

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If you want to imply that the visits are not frequent enough than I would say something like:

He's been pressuring me to see them more often for a long time.

This implies that she has seen the children, perhaps even recently, but overall it's not often enough.

Without adding that, it implies that a considerable (long) amount of time has past since the last visit. More than that, it implies she hasn't seen them since the ex-husband first started pressuring her.

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I would probably use something like "continuously" instead of "for a long time".

He's been continuously pressuring me to see them.

Or better yet:

He has repeatedly asked me to see them.

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