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Question

I never thought I would had(have) a friend like him.
How come in microsoft word, they suggest me to use "have".
That dosen't sound right to me. I'm writing this sentence that I had this friend before, but not now anymore.
Am I right ?

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Your sentence is wrong, but MS' version, though correct, does not convey the meaning you want.

"I never thought I would have had a friend like him."

Lokon · Answer

Oh thanks, Your advice sound good to me.

Avangi · Answer

"I never thought I would have had a friend like him."

This is not 100% perfect.

The MS version would not be incorrect, even though he is no longer your friend.
But it simply doesn't address the fact that you no longer have him.

The yellow version seems complicated, because it looks ahead and back at the same time.
To the untrained ear, it might sound wrong.

You never thought, before you had him, that there would come a time when you'd look back and say,
"This was a great friend."

I have the feeling that if you said it to someone without first explaining the situation,
they might not follow it.

Lokon · Answer

As long as it's correct in writing, I'll accept this.
But how should I say it with
"I never thought I would have had a friend like him."
same exact meaning in English that sound right?

Avangi · Answer

I'd use two sentences: the first to establish the context that he's no longer your friend, and the second to state that before he was your friend, you never expected to have such a friend.

My old friend is no longer with us. I [had] never thought I would have a friend like him.

The "had" is optional. It stresses that the "thinking" took place before he was your friend.

You don't need to refer to his being gone in the second sentence, since it's covered in the first.

(I don't know if he died, or simply stopped being your friend.)

Lokon · Answer

thanks

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