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MIA6 Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
"EVER".
The word "ever" can mean: at any time. Here is an example " Have you ever smoked?" so here "ever" means at any time? According to the present perfect tense, there are 2 possibilities:1. action happened in the past. 2. action happened in the past, and still last to now. THerefore, "ever" in that sentence means at anytime in the PAST, or really AT ANY TIME which means the time can be in the past or recently, just asking that from the past to now, did you or do you smoke? HOpe you can give me the specific explanation, thanks.
Top answer
Suppose you keep a diary. You keep one page for each day. At the end of every day you write in your diary what you did that day.
- Suppose you keep a diary.
- You keep one page for each day.
- At the end of every day you write in your diary what you did that day.
- If you ate fish that day, you write, "I ate fish today".
- If you drove to your uncle's house that day, you write, "I drove to my uncle's house today".
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4 Answers
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Suppose you keep a diary. You keep one page for each day.
At the end of every day you write in your diary what you did that day.
If you ate fish that day, you write, "I ate fish today".
If you drove to your uncle's house that day, you write, "I drove to my uncle's house today".
If you smoked that day, you write, "I smoked today."
If someone asks, Hav
At the end of every day you write in your diary what you did that day.
If you ate fish that day, you write, "I ate fish today".
If you drove to your uncle's house that day, you write, "I drove to my uncle's house today".
If you smoked that day, you write, "I smoked today."
If someone asks, Hav
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CJ, You explanation is pretty cool. BUt let's suppose that i am making a phone call to a person, and she asks me:" have you ever smoked", and i admit that i never smoked before, but how about i am smoking right now-- while i am making phone, i am smoking. So can i reply :YES ? if "ever" here means "at any time" which means from the past to now, did you or do you smoke? BTW, what's the difference
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Yes. You have to think of that diary as a special electronic diary that is updated every second or so! You are really keeping a page of this magic diary for every second of your life! So if you are actually smoking when asked, then:
Have you ever smoked? Yes.
(It's at any time.)
CJ
Have you ever smoked? Yes.
(It's at any time.)
CJ
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CJ, your explanation is really a good way to understand. I got it, thanks.
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