“He had a really great run for a few years there in the late '90s.”

English Lesson: He had a really great run for a few years there in the late '90s.

You're chatting with a friend about a baseball player. He's older now, but he was a good player for several years.

He had a really great run for a few years there in the late '90s.

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a few (of something)

"A few" is a number that's not specific, but it usually means somewhere between 3-10. It's a little less formal than "several" and also sounds like a slightly lower number. Here are some examples:

You may want to consider hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions.

That's a very generous offer. Um, let me think it over for a few days and get back to you.

(someone) had a good run

You can use the phrase "have a good run" to describe something that goes well for a certain period of time. For example, you might use this phrase to talk about the weather:

A: It's so rainy!

B: Yeah, we had a good run of sunshine for a few days but I guess that's over now.

Or you can talk about something that a person accomplished:

I had a good run this week. I sold three houses in four days.

(something happened) there

You can use "there" when you're talking about something that happened in the past:

Oh, I fell asleep for a minute there.

It was really tough for a few years there, but we're doing much better now.

Use "there" when something has changed from the past to now. Don't use it for a situation that's still continuing.

the (early/late/mid) ('80s/'90s/etc.)

You can name a recent decade by calling it "the '60s", "the '80s", "the '90s", and so on.

Some people call the decade starting in the year 2000 "the aughts". "Aught" is a way of saying "zero". The decade starting in 2010 is "the teens".

You can also specify if something was at the beginning, middle, or end of the decade:

I used to live there in the late '70s.

I think that came out in the mid '90s.