Present perfect vs simple past

Question

The last couple of concerts I've been to have all been GSBE.

The last couple of concerts I've been to were all GSBE.

Are both possible? I prefer the latter but the former doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

MichalS · Accepted Answer

Hi Ivan,

IvanhrI prefer the latter but the former

So do I.

Ivanhrthe former doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

To me it does sound at least strange, I must say. Those concerts happened, you know, and from the perspective of present they are completely gone.

But remember, I'm not a native speaker!

Ivanhr · Answer

Thanks Michal

I asked this question because I've heard native speakers say it occasionally. I'm not completely sure about its correctness, It does strike me as being informal and very casual.

CalifJim · Answer

IvanhrThe last couple of concerts I've been to have all been GSBE.

= "the former".

IvanhrThe last couple of concerts I've been to were all GSBE.

= "the latter".

_______________

I prefer the former, but I wouldn't claim that the latter was ungrammatical either.

CJ

Ivanhr · Answer

Thank you CJ

What about these

The best city I've ever been to is Rome.

The best city I've ever been to has been Rome.

I know that the first is correct but what about the second? A native speaker once told me that it was ungrammatical and yet it doesn't seem (completely) wrong.

CalifJim · Answer

IvanhrThe best city I've ever been to has been Rome.

The moment I read this I said aloud, "Oh my ***, no!" Does that answer your question?

But how to explain it? Hmmm. The more I think about, the more I'm inclined to agree with you that it's not completely awful. In fact, rephrased, it's not bad at all:

Of all the cities I've been to, Rome has been the best.

I think it has to do with which part of the equative structure you make the subject.

In a strangely subtle way, "has been the best" makes more sense than "has been Rome". One asks in the latter case, fleetingly, just because of the coincidence of the way the words end up next to each other, and in spite of the intended meaning, if that city has beenRome, what else has it been? What is it now? Kiev? Budapest?

Or putting it differently, if something "has been the best" it can become something else later (and no longer be the best). That's conceivable. But if something "has been Rome" can it really become something else later (and no longer be Rome)?

Others may have different analyses. This is a tricky one.

CJ

Mister Micawber · Answer

The best city I've ever been to is Rome.

The best city I've ever been to has been Rome.

I think it's just an effect like the one in verb regression in reported speech: one verb affects the other, and unless oddity is created, it passes. Related also to the phenomenon of the present perfect in the 'since' clause, which also comes up for discussion regularly, e.g. 'This has been the best date since I have started dating again.'

And what about this? – The best city I've ever been to was Rome. I'm sure I say that, too.

Ivanhr · Answer

Interesting comments from both of you (CJ & MM)

The best city I've ever been to was Rome. (MM)

Possibly ok but might imply that something has happened to Rome since I last visited it.

The tallest building I've ever been in was the WTC. (now it makes sense to use "was")

To follow up on that "dating" example, I find it quite interesting to see that a clearly ungrammatical, but commonly said sentence like "It's been a while since I've been on a date." sounds perfectly natural to (most) native speakers (Americans at least) but the Rome sentence does not (well at least some speakers find it unnatural). This to me just shows that English is a highly idiomatic language, which often defies common sense. (please don't bash me for saying this; I still love it though)

CalifJim · Answer

IvanhrThe best city I've ever been to was Rome. (MM)
Possibly ok but might imply that something has happened to Rome since I last visited it.

Like Mr. M., I might say this one too. But in this one (was Rome) I don't get the same impression regarding anything changing about Rome as I do with has been Rome.

CJ

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