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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Tenses

Hi,

"I have some news. I got engaged! Did you know?"

"Yes, I have heard that."
"No, I haven't heard that.

"Yes, I had heard that."
"No, I had not heard that."

I am confused. Present perfect? Past perfect? Present perfect sounds natural, but you can argue that the person has informed me that she is engaged, so this act of informing is in the past, which means I should use the past perfect. Maybe either is fine (the past perfect implies "I'd heard that before you just told me"). Any explanation will be valued.
  

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4 Answers
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You've perfectly answered your questions yourself.
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You mean, either is fine?
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Anonymousthe past perfect implies "I'd heard that before you just told me
That's the context in which the Past Perfect is fine, otherwise use the Present Perfect.
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Anonymous"I have some news. I got engaged! Did you know?"
I got engaged! - At this instant, you know. You have heard it. From this instant forward, this news is in the past.
Did you know? - Did you know this fact before I told you just an instant ago?
No, I hadn't heard that. - I had not heard that you were engaged before/until
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