Only past perfect correct?

Question

Hi. I think we can use the present perfect tense in addition to the past perfect tense. Am I correct or wrong?

Many can attest that it became to them a way better than anything they has/had known before.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Well, 'has' is certainly wrong. Your choices are they had known or they knew. I lean toward the past perfect.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi. Thank you. Please tell if the following use of the present perfect is correct or not. I think we can either use the phrase in parentheses or not use it without making any material difference (if I am not mistaken or have said what I meant to say. Not sure, though.)

Hypothetical context:

One day, John's friend to came to his home and asked him if he would be willing to go with him to a one-day ski trip. Until that time, he hadn't found skiing attractive as a sport. His friend also said that he was willing to pay for his trip since he had been very helpful with his school project. John agreed and went with him. When John came back home, he mentioned how much he liked the skiing experience. In fact, gathering from what he said, I think he liked it better than any sport he has tried (so far).

I think if you replaced the underlined part with the phrase "had tried before," I think, if I am not mistaken, it wouldn't be saying the samething contextually. What do you think?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Using 'has tried' there suddenly brings the narration necessarily into the present (i.e. the whole text is being spoken 'now'). If John is still alive and the ski trip is not too far in the past, then both 'has tried' and 'had tried' carry the same intent. Normally, we would expect the verb to regress with the reported speech narrative (he said he liked it better than any other he had tried).

So I put down the use of 'has tried' in this context to poorer style more than anything else. Only the greater context (i.e. surrounding text in a present form) would rationalize its use here.

Only past perfect correct?

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