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Kooyeen Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

haven't found / didn't find

0 Hi,02br
01ol
    01li
  1. 00I have been searching the Net for two hours, but I 01u00haven't found02u00 the drivers you asked me, sorry dude.02li
    2. 01li
  2. 00I have been searching the Net for two hours, but I 01u00didn't find02u00 the drivers you asked me, sorry dude.02li
    3. 02ol
00Considering American usage, are the above sentences both acceptable? Does a past tense (sentence #2) sound odd in that sentence? I think that both of those sentences are alright.02br
02br
00Thank you. 0-
  

Top answer

*71*0 01pre 00I have been searching... 02pre 01pre 00I searched... 02pre 01p 00I'm sure you'll HEAR something similar to #2, but that doesn't make it right...

— BarbaraPA

  • *71*0 01pre 00I have been searching...
  • 02pre 01pre 00I searched...
  • 02pre 01p 00I'm sure you'll HEAR something similar to #2, but that doesn't make it right...
  • dude.
  • 05002p 00 010id5
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22 Answers
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*71*0 01pre
00I have been searching... but I haven't found it.02pre
01pre
00I searched... but I didn't find it.02pre
01p

00I'm sure you'll HEAR something similar to #2, but that doesn't make it right... dude. 05002p

00 010id5
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0Grammar Geek, can I say:02br
02br
00I 01font00have02font00 searched... but I didn't find it. => is this substandard or completely incorrect?0-
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0That sounds okay to me. It was the "I have been searching" that was the problem with using "didn't." With "have been searching," it says that the search is still going on. "I have searched" says the search is over too, so "didn't find it" is okay - it's also in the past.0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Grammar Geek12cite10That sounds okay to me. It was the "I have been searching" that was the problem with using "didn't." 11font10With "have been searching," it says that the search is still going on.12font10 "I have searched" says the search is over too, so "didn't find it" is okay - i
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I have searched... but I haven't found it.
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AnonymousI have searched... but I haven't found it.
I agree.
As appealing as Kooyeen's example is, sometimes the perfect tenses must yield to the nature of the particular verb being used, as well as to the context.

Someone has been smoking/searching in this room!
This is a an inference based on certain evidence. That same evidence indi
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if there is a present perfect it means that the action hasnt finished yet and it still might be done. if you say I searched..but I didnt find means you are not going to look for it anymore...
the most correct is I've been searching but I haven't found...
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Asima117if there is a present perfect it means that the action hasnt finished yet
Usually it does mean the action in question is over (which does not mean that it cannot be done again, mind you). The exceptions would be work, live, teach and possibly a few more.

I have lived here for 20 years.
I have worked for this company for 15
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Even this is possible:
We are very tired; we have been working in the garden the whole day.
Here though the action is ceased, its effect is felt now. Herein present perfect can also be used in place of present prefect continuous.
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KooyeenUh-oh! Tongue Tied Who told you that the search is still going on? I thought that the present perfect and present perfect continuous were used to refer to an action or activity that lasts up to now or that just ended. It is the context that tell us if something is still going on or not, not the verb tenses. (Example: "Sniff, sniff... someone has been smoking here.
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