"Just" as in simply.

Question

Hey,I've lost some points writing a composition for school, but i'm not sure my teacher is right about this one. Please let me know if the following sentence is correct or incorrect. any help will be appreciated."For some, a friend is someone who has known you for years and always stood by your side, while for others a friend can be someone they just met on the street and exchanged a few words with."The teacher corrected it to "have just".  I wanted to use "just" as in simply and not as in "this moment".Thanks for the help!

Fandorin · Accepted Answer

Hi, Anon. Your teacher is right, you ought to use Present Perfect there because you link meeting itself and the result is obvious now, in future. Just itself implies the result of past action right now, at the moment of speaking, and therefore Present Perfect should be applied.

Clive · Answer

Hi,
I've lost some points writing a composition for school, but i'm not sure my teacher is right about this one. Please let me know if the following sentence is correct or incorrect. any help will be appreciated.

"For some, a friend is someone who has known you for years and always stood by your side, while for others a friend can be someone they just met on the street and exchanged a few words with."

The teacher corrected it to "have just". I wanted to use "just" as in simply and not as in "this moment".

I don't like either 'have just met' or 'just met'.

I'd say "A friend can be someone they just meet on the street and exchange a few words with."
In other words, I take the meaning to be 'A friend can be just a casual acquaintance'.

It's your sentence. What did you mean when you wrote it?
Did you mean my interpretation?

Or did you mean, eg 'A friend can be someone you just met on the street in 2001 and exchanged a few words with'?
This sounds odd, because there is no indication in the sentence that you have had any involvement with the person since that point in the past.

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you both for your quick answers, your help is appreciated. Have a good day! <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Anonymous · Answer

Yeah, your first interpretation is exactly what I meant, thanks again!

"Just" as in simply.

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