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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Ever' in Past Simple and Present Perfect?

Dear colleagues, I need your professional help.

What's the difference between the usage of 'ever' in Past Simple and Present Perfect?

Here you can see the examples (from "Language Leader", Elementary Level (Extra Practice)):
"Were you ever lonely?"

"Have you ever studied Chinese?"

I really can't understand why we should use Past Simple in the first sentence, we are also speaking about a life experience, why not to use Present Perfect in both cases??!
  

Top answer

Hi :-) You can use either. All the following are correct: Were you ever lonely? Have you ever been lonely?

— Anonymous

  • Hi :-) You can use either.
  • All the following are correct: Were you ever lonely?
  • Have you ever been lonely?
  • Have you ever studied Chinese?
  • Did you ever study Chinese?
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1 Answers
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Hi :-)

You can use either. All the following are correct:

Were you ever lonely?

Have you ever been lonely?

Have you ever studied Chinese?

Did you ever study Chinese?

In normal conversation, the "have you ever" version is more common.

If you're referring to the present as well as the past (e.g. if you mean "are you studying, or have yo
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