The implications of the eddy‐damped quasinormal Markovian (EDQNM) approximation for the separation of particle pairs in (three‐dimensional) inertial subrange turbulence are explored. In particular the EDQNM equations are solved for the particle separation probability distribution, without making the usual approximation of replacing the damping time scales by their large time asymptotic form. A number of properties of the separation probability distribution that are of significance for the prediction of concentration fluctuations are calculated. The values show quite large departures from the values obtained with the large time form of the damping time scales. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.