I HAD / HAVE never seen a match like that before!
"Have never seen" or "Had never seen": Which one is correct in the following context? If they are both correct, then which one would you prefer?
- John, did you see the match between Liverpool and Chelsea yesterday? What a beautiful match it was! It was the best match I have ever seen. I have never seen/had never seen a match like that before.
I asked a similar question yesterday, where the answerer said present perfect and past perfect both are correct. But in this one I have used yesterday and I am not sure whether both tenses can be used or only one is correct.
present-perfect past-perfect
add a comment |
"Have never seen" or "Had never seen": Which one is correct in the following context? If they are both correct, then which one would you prefer?
- John, did you see the match between Liverpool and Chelsea yesterday? What a beautiful match it was! It was the best match I have ever seen. I have never seen/had never seen a match like that before.
I asked a similar question yesterday, where the answerer said present perfect and past perfect both are correct. But in this one I have used yesterday and I am not sure whether both tenses can be used or only one is correct.
present-perfect past-perfect
add a comment |
"Have never seen" or "Had never seen": Which one is correct in the following context? If they are both correct, then which one would you prefer?
- John, did you see the match between Liverpool and Chelsea yesterday? What a beautiful match it was! It was the best match I have ever seen. I have never seen/had never seen a match like that before.
I asked a similar question yesterday, where the answerer said present perfect and past perfect both are correct. But in this one I have used yesterday and I am not sure whether both tenses can be used or only one is correct.
present-perfect past-perfect
"Have never seen" or "Had never seen": Which one is correct in the following context? If they are both correct, then which one would you prefer?
- John, did you see the match between Liverpool and Chelsea yesterday? What a beautiful match it was! It was the best match I have ever seen. I have never seen/had never seen a match like that before.
I asked a similar question yesterday, where the answerer said present perfect and past perfect both are correct. But in this one I have used yesterday and I am not sure whether both tenses can be used or only one is correct.
present-perfect past-perfect
present-perfect past-perfect
edited 2 hours ago
asked 3 hours ago
subhajit dalal
4118
4118
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add a comment |
2 Answers
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It was the best match I had ever seen. You watched the match yesterday (= past) and up until that point in time you had never seen such a great match.
"have never seen before" refers to the present, up until this moment in time.
add a comment |
Both are correct. Which tense you prefer depends just on your view of how recent the match is in your mind rather than the time that has elapsed since.
There is a grey area when it comes to reporting events between those that have just occurred and those that occurred some time ago.
Imagine that you witness a dreadful accident at 10.00 on a Monday.
On Monday afternoon you might say:
It is the worst accident I have ever seen.
A week later when you met friends you might say:
It was the worst accident I have/had ever seen.
There is no defined point between the time of the accident and the following weekend when is becomes was and have seen becomes had seen.
What determines the difference is simply how you regard the event - how recent it is in your mind. At some point we mentally move such events from our immediate experience to past experience and change the tense accordingly when we report them.
So even though you are talking about yesterday's match, it is probably still the best match that you have ever seen.
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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It was the best match I had ever seen. You watched the match yesterday (= past) and up until that point in time you had never seen such a great match.
"have never seen before" refers to the present, up until this moment in time.
add a comment |
It was the best match I had ever seen. You watched the match yesterday (= past) and up until that point in time you had never seen such a great match.
"have never seen before" refers to the present, up until this moment in time.
add a comment |
It was the best match I had ever seen. You watched the match yesterday (= past) and up until that point in time you had never seen such a great match.
"have never seen before" refers to the present, up until this moment in time.
It was the best match I had ever seen. You watched the match yesterday (= past) and up until that point in time you had never seen such a great match.
"have never seen before" refers to the present, up until this moment in time.
edited 2 hours ago
answered 2 hours ago
anouk
932212
932212
add a comment |
add a comment |
Both are correct. Which tense you prefer depends just on your view of how recent the match is in your mind rather than the time that has elapsed since.
There is a grey area when it comes to reporting events between those that have just occurred and those that occurred some time ago.
Imagine that you witness a dreadful accident at 10.00 on a Monday.
On Monday afternoon you might say:
It is the worst accident I have ever seen.
A week later when you met friends you might say:
It was the worst accident I have/had ever seen.
There is no defined point between the time of the accident and the following weekend when is becomes was and have seen becomes had seen.
What determines the difference is simply how you regard the event - how recent it is in your mind. At some point we mentally move such events from our immediate experience to past experience and change the tense accordingly when we report them.
So even though you are talking about yesterday's match, it is probably still the best match that you have ever seen.
add a comment |
Both are correct. Which tense you prefer depends just on your view of how recent the match is in your mind rather than the time that has elapsed since.
There is a grey area when it comes to reporting events between those that have just occurred and those that occurred some time ago.
Imagine that you witness a dreadful accident at 10.00 on a Monday.
On Monday afternoon you might say:
It is the worst accident I have ever seen.
A week later when you met friends you might say:
It was the worst accident I have/had ever seen.
There is no defined point between the time of the accident and the following weekend when is becomes was and have seen becomes had seen.
What determines the difference is simply how you regard the event - how recent it is in your mind. At some point we mentally move such events from our immediate experience to past experience and change the tense accordingly when we report them.
So even though you are talking about yesterday's match, it is probably still the best match that you have ever seen.
add a comment |
Both are correct. Which tense you prefer depends just on your view of how recent the match is in your mind rather than the time that has elapsed since.
There is a grey area when it comes to reporting events between those that have just occurred and those that occurred some time ago.
Imagine that you witness a dreadful accident at 10.00 on a Monday.
On Monday afternoon you might say:
It is the worst accident I have ever seen.
A week later when you met friends you might say:
It was the worst accident I have/had ever seen.
There is no defined point between the time of the accident and the following weekend when is becomes was and have seen becomes had seen.
What determines the difference is simply how you regard the event - how recent it is in your mind. At some point we mentally move such events from our immediate experience to past experience and change the tense accordingly when we report them.
So even though you are talking about yesterday's match, it is probably still the best match that you have ever seen.
Both are correct. Which tense you prefer depends just on your view of how recent the match is in your mind rather than the time that has elapsed since.
There is a grey area when it comes to reporting events between those that have just occurred and those that occurred some time ago.
Imagine that you witness a dreadful accident at 10.00 on a Monday.
On Monday afternoon you might say:
It is the worst accident I have ever seen.
A week later when you met friends you might say:
It was the worst accident I have/had ever seen.
There is no defined point between the time of the accident and the following weekend when is becomes was and have seen becomes had seen.
What determines the difference is simply how you regard the event - how recent it is in your mind. At some point we mentally move such events from our immediate experience to past experience and change the tense accordingly when we report them.
So even though you are talking about yesterday's match, it is probably still the best match that you have ever seen.
edited 1 hour ago
answered 1 hour ago
Ronald Sole
9,21211019
9,21211019
add a comment |
add a comment |
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