What does "lasts" mean in this situation?
What does "lasts" mean in the sentence: "A fad, he says, lasts a very short time and is not very important"? When I had to choose 1 in 2 answers: "Come to an end" and "continues to be present". I chose "Come to an end". I don't understand why is wrong.
Ling Thai
New member
3 answers 
The correct one is:
"continues to be present"
because when 'last' is used as a verb it means to continue or remain in usable condition.
Here in your sentence 'end' the noun 'fad' is not refered but the time for which it remains avilable is.
The Dictionary also define last, as verb, as to continue not to end.
See the link:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/last?s=t
Hope it helps.
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answered Apr 28 '12 at 07:57
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the infinitive to last means to continue - as shown above; it might be derived from, say, having a group of shoes and finding one pair still standing after months of wearing them. The pair still there is last. Another use might be to outlast something.
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answered May 04 '12 at 15:55
Barry Jackson
New member
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Of the two choices you should definitely use 'continues to be present'. The noun 'last' means the one at the end but the verb 'last', as in this case, means to continue.
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answered May 05 '12 at 21:42
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