Preterite after "just"?

Question

I've always been taught "just" has to be followed by a present perfect. But I've just read a sentence in which it is followed by a preterite: "His name just came out of the Gobelet of Fire".
Is it correct, and if it is, in which cases can I use it?
Thanks!

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

'I've just read a sentence'-- this means 'in the immediate past'.
'His name just came out of the Goblet of Fire'-- 'in the immediate past'.
'At 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, I will have just awakened'-- the immediate past (from 6 a.m. tomorrow).
'I had just awakened when I heard a scream'-- ditto.
'Where's Jim? I just called his home, but he's not there.' -- ditto.
'What are you doing?' 'I'm just calling Jim at his office' -- VERY immediate past!

('Preterite' is an old word, and you should lose it, Pieanne; it is not really applicable to English; it is for contrast with 'imperfect' in the Romance languages, I believe. 'Simple past' is sufficient.)

Pieanne · Answer

Thanks for your prompt answer. If "preterite" has become obsolete, are there any rules about it that have become obsolete too?

CalifJim · Answer

Obsolete or not, I love that word "preterite"!

No, Pieanne, changing the name from "preterite" to "simple past" did not cause any of the usages of that form to change. It's still our old friend, but with an alternate name.

A rose by another name ..., you know!

Jim

Pemmican · Answer

I learned it the same way, pieanne did - and all my grammar books also say that "just" is a signal word for perfect tenses ---> at least in British English.
Americn English tends to use "just" with the Simple Past.

"Preterite" btw is applicable to English as well as for every Germanic language to refer to the Simple Past, even though the term "Simple Past indeed should be preferred.
"Imperfect", as the Simple Past has been called in former times, is the one that is to be avoided in any case.
"Preterite" had been a collective noun, used to mark Past Tenses in general (i.e. Simple Past, Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Imperfect, Aorist, etc) - it later on substituted the term "Imperfect" because it often lead to confusion with the Romance Imperfect which is slightly different.
As English, as well as most Germanic languages, had been influenced severely by Latin Grammar, we still have all these Latin Terms which do not really correspond to the Germanic tenses.

MrPedantic · Answer

Hello all

You can also sometimes interpret 'just' as an intensifier, with the simple past (I don't know if that's the case here):

1. 'It just came out of the Goblet of Fire' = 'it has just come out of the G. of F.'.

2. 'It just came out of the Goblet of Fire!' = 'I don't know how to explain it, but – it came out of the G. of F.!'

'Aren't you going to tidy up your bedroom?' 'I just did.'
'How on earth did you get an A in your English exam?' 'I don't know. I just did.'

MrP

Preterite after "just"?

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