Present Perfect or Past Simple?

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ESL forum > Ask for help > Present Perfect or Past Simple?

Present Perfect or Past Simple?

sashulochka

Present Perfect or Past Simple?

Hello!

I �m a bit confused about the following example "I never met (or I have never met) my grandmother. She died before I was born".

Which tense is the best option? I �d say "I never met..." as there is no connection with the present but I �ve come across a similar sentence with Present Perfect. Help me understand this better, please. Thanks)

7 Nov 2016

I would say that both are correct. The time reference in the sentence is "in your life" and since you are still alive, the time reference is not finished. As such, the usage of the present perfect would be correct. Since the sentence is affirmative, if my mind doesn �t play tricks on me, I remember I read somewhere that if the sentence is affirmative, neither interrogative nor negative, the past simple tense could also be used. I hear many native speakers using the past simple tense instead of the present perfect when speaking and in movies. Wait for a native speaker �s opinion though. I might be wrong.

7 Nov 2016

[email protected]

Both OK.

"I never met...",meaning at any and all fixed times in the past - because she was always dead.

"I �ve never met..." meaning up to right now.

7 Nov 2016

I won �t go so far as to say either one is "wrong", but:

"I never met my Granmother" is the prefered answer.

"I �ve never met my Grandmother" implies that it is still possible to meet her, but she �s dead so you can �t.

Cheers,

Douglas

8 Nov 2016

yanogator

Douglas �s point is important. The present perfect isn �t wrong, but the simple past is the better choice, because the possibility is gone.

Bruce

8 Nov 2016

I think that "I �ve never met" seems wrong because the outcome is now impossible.

Compare: Shakespeare never wrote a screenplay. (He never will, so I must use simple past.)

I have never written a screenplay. (I �m highly unlikely to ever write a screenplay, but there is a slim possibility that it could happen, so I use present perfect.)

Yet in your example, the speaker is still alive, so the speaker is still potentially capable of meeting their grandmother in ghost form, I suppose. "I �ve never met my grandmother," doesn �t necessarily sound totally wrong but it definitely sounds odd given the context of the timing of her death.

8 Nov 2016

I would tend to agree with Douglas with � �I never met my grandmother � � as the better choice, as there isn �t a possibility of ever meeting her. It is the same as saying I never met John Lennon as he is dead and in his grave. Don �t think I would like to meet him there. I can, however say I have never met Paul McCartney because he is still alive and kicking.

8 Nov 2016

Yes - �I never met �, is the better option, for the reasons the others have given. �I never got to meet .. � is perfect, implying regret.

8 Nov 2016