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Pucca Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Haven't / Didn't

0 Hello all:),02br
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00I am back again, with my questions..I have always wondered what was the difference between these sentences..02br
00- You didn't miss anything.02br
00- You haven't missed anything02br
02br
00Why is it used "didn't" in the first one and "haven't" in the second one? Am I mixing everything? Why is the verb in present tence in the first one while in the second one is in the past?02br
02br
00Thanks in advance for your help! 0-
  

Top answer

0 1)- You didn't miss anything. 01font 00Simple past, not present02font 02br 00 2)- You haven't missed anything 01font 00Present perfect, which is 01b 00closer to the present02br 02br 00 Use 1 for events more remote in the past (say, 2 days ago), 2 for more recent ones (say, 5 minutes ago), esp connected to the present situation. 02br 02br 00 Also, 2 is more frequent in the BrE.

— Marius Hancu

  • 0 1)- You didn't miss anything.
  • 01font 00Simple past, not present02font 02br 00 2)- You haven't missed anything 01font 00Present perfect, which is 01b 00closer to the present02br 02br 00 Use 1 for events more remote in the past (say, 2 days ago), 2 for more recent ones (say, 5 minutes ago), esp connected to the present situation.
  • 02br 02br 00 Also, 2 is more frequent in the BrE.
  • AmE prefers 1.
  • 02br 02b 02font 00 0-
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44 Answers
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0 1)- You didn't miss anything. 01font00Simple past, not present02font02br
00 2)- You haven't missed anything 01font00Present perfect, which is 01b00closer to the present02br
02br
00 Use 1 for events more remote in the past (say, 2 days ago), 2 for more recent ones (say, 5 minutes
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0 Hello Marius Hancu, 02br
02br
00Sorry, I was looking at "miss" at first but the realised that the others were verbs too.02br
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00But, why are both verbs different? I mean, wouldn't it be possible with just one verb instead of two? After all, they express almost the same thing..05002br
02br
00Thanks in advance! 010id37
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0 You just have to learn the verbs the way they01b00 are02b00. 0-
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0 Hi Pucca02br
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00There is sometimes little or no difference in meaning between the simple past tense and the present perfect. Whether you choose to use one or the other is often dictated by the broader context (which is what Marius was telling you), and sometimes it simply has to do with how the speaker is looking at things when he/she says or writes the sentence.02b
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0 Got it!:) Thanks Marius Hancu and Yankee!02br
02br
00"Didn't" --> To actions which happened time ago.02br
00"Haven't" --> To actions which happened few minutes ago.02br
02br
00And my last question, is the same rule with all the verbs? 0-
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0>"Haven't" --> 01b00For02b00 actions which happened few minutes ago 01font00and/or continue still at this time02font0-
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0 Thank you Marius!:D 0-
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0 No, present perfect does not only refer to very recent time. It tends to refer to past time up to now. For example:02br
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00I haven't ever gone bungee jumping, but I'm hoping to try it before I turn 60. 050010id4
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0 Yankee's right, I've over-simplified things for you. 0-
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0 Hello Yankee:),02br
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00And what would happen if we put "didn't"02br
00"I didn't go bungee jumping", that would mean that you have already gone bumgee jumping, right?02br
02br
00Thanks in advance! 0-
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