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I want to say "it's getting close to the end of our relationship" without using the word "relationship."

Are these both equally valid?

"It's getting close to the end of us."

"It's getting close to the end for us."

I think that these both might be equally ambiguous, but I could be wrong. I think "the end" could be misinterpreted.

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    my sympathy to you and the recipient of this conversation, by the way :-(
    – PLL
    Apr 1, 2011 at 2:43
  • Get on the bus, Gus.
    – Pete Wilson
    Apr 1, 2011 at 9:53

5 Answers 5

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Both are rather awkward and strange-sounding. Probably the most common way to end a relationship, at least in America, would be to say: "We need to talk ..."

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    In Japanese I'd recommend: もう愛してないから、電話番号変える。(It's the only way to be sure.) =-)
    – Robusto
    Apr 1, 2011 at 1:09
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    For the folks playing along at home, that means "I don't love you any more so I'm changing my phone number." Which would work in English as well, come to think of it.
    – Robusto
    Apr 1, 2011 at 1:10
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    Since @Robusto's in one of those moods :-p, I'll point out that "We need to talk" is a classic cultural signifier that the conversation to follow will be about ending the relationship.
    – user1579
    Apr 1, 2011 at 1:14
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    If you know the difference you can already tell. If not, how would you know if I was telling you the truth?
    – Robusto
    Apr 1, 2011 at 1:21
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    @language hacker: I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is not Facebook or Myspace. If you want to make friends with Robusto, get a chat room. Better yet, just search the chat transcript, and you will find answers to all of your questions.
    – RegDwigнt
    Apr 1, 2011 at 9:22
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“I think this is over.”

“I think things are over between us.”

“I don’t think this is going to last much longer.”

“It’s getting close to the end of things between us.”

“It’s getting close to the end of our time together.”

Now I’m going down to my basement to listen to some Leonard Cohen and paint the walls black…

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Putting us in quotes might help. That way, both sentences could work.

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  • If quotes are not used, then which sentence is better?
    – language hacker
    Apr 1, 2011 at 1:03
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    @lang: I couldn't pick one over the other. Robusto is right. If you just want another word than relationship, how about ". . . us as a couple"?
    – Callithumpian
    Apr 1, 2011 at 1:13
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Instead of "relationship", you could say; this is the end of our . . .

liaison.

affiliation.

connection.

partnership.

alliance.

friendship.

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I want to say "it's getting close to the end of our relationship" without using the word "relationship."

Say it the way you would have wanted to, then just substitute "relationship" with "union" Example: "it's getting close to the end of our union"

Maybe you don't know if what you had could be called a relationship, then, you could use any of the following: "it's getting close to the end of this charade/ dolly house/ whatever this is"

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