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Are "last" and "past" interchangeable in:

  • last 2 days
  • past 2 days

?

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  • Pretty similar. Perhaps 'past' has a stronger sense of 'during'...
    – Dan
    Oct 16, 2016 at 12:56
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    You can't use "past" in "the last two days of this month" and similar expressions. But aside from that, they're pretty similar.
    – Peter Shor
    Oct 16, 2016 at 12:57
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    If not followed by "of" they are largely interchangeable.
    – Hot Licks
    Oct 16, 2016 at 13:34

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I would say that last 2 days refers to the 2 days that terminate any period, regardless of where that period is located in time. For example, you can say:

I felt really bad during the last 2 days of that trip in 1998.

The past 2 days refers to the 2 days preceding the moment of speaking. So it cannot be used as above.

Since 'last 2 days' seems a bit more general, you can also use it to indicate the termination of current period, i.e. to refer to the 2 days before the moment of speaking, in which case it becomes equivalent to 'past 2 days'

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