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Cat desk Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Sequence of tenses

Hi there, should I use "has done" or "did" in the following context? My question is about sequence of tenses. Do the tenses match?
  • Liverpool have just beaten Chelsea 10-0, which is quite unbelievable. They have done something that no other team has done/did.
  

Top answer

It should be "has done". This is dictated by the "has never happened" sense, irrespective of the sequence of tenses. We use the present perfect when talking about something that has not happened over a period of time (or ever) stretching up to the present.

— GPY

  • It should be "has done".
  • This is dictated by the "has never happened" sense, irrespective of the sequence of tenses.
  • We use the present perfect when talking about something that has not happened over a period of time (or ever) stretching up to the present.
  • : Nobody has seen her for six weeks.
  • I have never been to Hawaii.
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2 Answers
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It should be "has done". This is dictated by the "has never happened" sense, irrespective of the sequence of tenses. We use the present perfect when talking about something that has not happened over a period of time (or ever) stretching up to the present. E.g.:

Nobody has seen her for six weeks.

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cat desk They have done something that no other team has done.

In the sentence above, I read They have done something as a clause in which an action/event is done in the unspecified time in the past, and that no other team has done as a clause in which connection with the present (now) is implied.

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