davno

[Alina Israeli]

>"I have smoked for a long time." = "Ja davno kurju."

I would say it rather means 'I have been smoking for a long time.'

>"I have not smoked for a long time." Is the Russian:
>
>A: "Ja davno ne kurju."
>or
>B: "Ja davno ne kuril."

A means 'I no longer smoke'; B means 'I haven't had a smoke for a long time
(but might like to have a smoke)'.

>Wade, an excellent observer of such English-Russian niceties, says on
>p.404 of his Grammar that only "Ja davno ne kuril" is possible.

But the English sentence is ambiguous.

**************************************************************
Alina Israeli
LFS, American University                phone:  (202) 885-2387
4400 Mass. Ave., NW                     fax:    (202) 885-1076
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aisrael at american.edu