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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
present perfect vs. past simple
Are these sentences correct and what's the difference in meaning?
"Paul has never met his father because his father died when he was 4."
"Paul didn't know his father because he died when Paul was 4."
"Paul has never met his father because his father died when he was 4."
"Paul didn't know his father because he died when Paul was 4."
Top answer
" The second one is fine. The first one would have the same meaning, but the use of tense is not idiomatic in this case. You could substitute the past perfect for the present perfect, and it would be idiomatic.
- " The second one is fine.
- The first one would have the same meaning, but the use of tense is not idiomatic in this case.
- You could substitute the past perfect for the present perfect, and it would be idiomatic.
- " We assume prior context identifies the past reference event.
- We could take it as his father's death.
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4 Answers
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Anonymous"Paul has never met his father because his father died when he was 4."
"Paul didn't know his father because he died when Paul was 4."The second one is fine.
The first one would have the same meaning, but the use of tense is not idiomatic in this case.
You could substitute the past perfect for the present perfect,
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What confuses me is the following:
Let's say Paul has never met his father. The reason is that his father died when Paul was a baby. Thus, do you say:
"Paul never met his father." (doesn't this sentence implies that Paul is dead?) OR
"Paul has never met his father." (shouldn't this sentence imply that Paul is alive, but his father isn't?)
Nevertheless, lets just say that I'm
Let's say Paul has never met his father. The reason is that his father died when Paul was a baby. Thus, do you say:
"Paul never met his father." (doesn't this sentence implies that Paul is dead?) OR
"Paul has never met his father." (shouldn't this sentence imply that Paul is alive, but his father isn't?)
Nevertheless, lets just say that I'm
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To my ear, the simple past is the best choice: Paul never met his father. Paul never had the chance to meet his father.
The past perfect can work, but the context can be complicated.
The present perfect does not work. We often say that the present perfect applies to things which happened in the very recent past.
What Paul did not do OCCURRE
The past perfect can work, but the context can be complicated.
The present perfect does not work. We often say that the present perfect applies to things which happened in the very recent past.
What Paul did not do OCCURRE
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