Is this sentence correct, or should I change the tense?

Question

That was the greatest thing I have ever seen/ I had ever seen

JimmyB47 · Accepted Answer

Either tense "have ever seen" or "had ever seen" is gramatically correct and understandable to native speakers.

CalifJim · Answer

adsfaf That was the greatest thing I have ever seen/ I had ever seen

You've been asking a lot of questions about the difference between the present perfect (auxiliary has or have) and the past perfect (auxiliary had).

The main difference is that the situation in the present perfect is measured from present time, i.e., the moment that the sentence is said, while the past perfect is measured from a past time, i.e., a moment in the past which is established by context within the conversation or text.

That was the greatest thing I have ever seen. You have never seen anything greater either before or after the time you saw it, right up to the moment you say this.

That was the greatest thing I had ever seen. You had never seen anything greater before the time you saw it, right up to the moment you saw it. Nothing is said about the time between your seeing it and now. Maybe you've seen something greater since then; maybe not.

CJ

Is this sentence correct, or should I change the tense?

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