"Why did you not call me back in the past three days?"
Translation:过去三天为什么你不回我的电话?
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1627
不 is used for the present and future.
If you still haven't spoken to the person and the situation is ongoing, you might leave this message by text or voicemail. "It's been three days, why aren't you returning my calls?"
That's how I understand it, but not sure if that's right.
818
But I take it that the question was prompted by the fact that the English is past (or, more accurately, perfect) not present or future.
"Did not call" is preterite and perfective, rather than perfect, which would be "have not called".
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_(grammar)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preterite
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfective_aspect
I don't like Duo's current English sentence ("Why did you not call me back in the past three days?"), and I think something along the lines of CinamonTe1's suggestion would be better, but perhaps it's impossible to come up with a perfect direct translation.