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the past couple decades vs the past couple of decades

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in slightly different contexts. 'The past couple decades' is more informal and conversational, while 'the past couple of decades' is more formal and grammatically correct. The choice between them depends on the level of formality you want to convey.

Last updated: March 21, 2024

the past couple decades

This phrase is correct in informal contexts and conversational English.

This phrase is commonly used in spoken English and informal writing to refer to a period of two decades in the past.

Examples:

  • I've been studying the changes in technology over the past couple decades.
  • She has seen a lot of changes in the past couple decades.
  • It's more like a way to help process everything that's happened in his life over the past couple decades, and maybe to figure out the person he's become.
  • Why has the Japanese economy been stagnant for the past couple decades? UpdateCancel. Answer Wiki. 2 Answers. Dick Karp, Computer nerd who became a ...
  • Feb 9, 2016 ... Over the past couple decades, Google has become known for a lot of things, and while it's second-nature for a lot of people to simply “Google it” ...
  • Feb 25, 2016 ... Over the past couple decades, the Christian population in the Holy Land has been in free fall. If current trends continue—and no reason ...

Alternatives:

  • the last couple decades
  • the past few decades

the past couple of decades

This phrase is more formal and grammatically correct.

This phrase is used in more formal writing and contexts where grammatical accuracy is important. It refers to a period of two decades in the past.

Examples:

  • The economic growth of the country has been steady over the past couple of decades.
  • The changes in technology over the past couple of decades have been remarkable.
  • war in the past couple of decades. Imagination, emotion, and visual representation are central to the act of telling war stories today. The authors of the essays in ...
  • Mar 30, 2016 ... Tubbs agrees with Dixon and says over the past couple of decades, the city's talent started leaving for greener pastures. “Somehow, we lost our ...
  • In the past couple of decades courts have experimented with various jury reforms .1 These reforms led a majority of states and federal courts to permit jurors to ...
  • Have meteorological predictions demonstrably improved in accuracy over the past couple of decades? UpdateCancel. Answer Wiki. 1 Answer. Ryan Carlyle ...

Alternatives:

  • the last couple of decades
  • the past few decades

Related Comparisons

over the past decades vs over the last decades over the last three decades vs over the past three decades in the last decades vs over the last decades over the past decades vs over the past decade through the decades vs over the decades over the last decade vs over the past decades

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