Unless

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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Rustamsher
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Unless

Post by Rustamsher »

I came across the following exercise in some grammar book:

I don't watch TV unless/as long as I have nothing else to do.

Interestingly, the answer key is "unless".

The sentence with "as long as" is grammatical, but seems a little meaningless to me.
As concerns the one with "unless", I wonder it is grammatical.

1) Is the "unless + negative" construction in one clause grammatically correct?
2) Which is the right option?

Thanks!
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Alan
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Re: Unless

Post by Alan »

Yes, 'unless' (which means simply 'except in the case that') is correct here.
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