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Peaceblinkfriend Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

'that was actually the first time I saw / have ever seen him..."

0Should I say 'that was actually the first time I saw him in his car' or 'that was actually the first time I have ever seen him in his car'?02br
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00Thank you02br
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00PBF 0-
  

Top answer

1blockquote 01cite 10Peaceblinkfriend12cite 10Should I say 'that was actually the first time I saw him in his car' or 'that was actually the first time I have ever seen him in his car'? 12br 12br 10PBF 12br 12br 12blockquote 10That was actually the first time I have ever seen him in his car. 0-

— Yoong Liat

  • 1blockquote 01cite 10Peaceblinkfriend12cite 10Should I say 'that was actually the first time I saw him in his car' or 'that was actually the first time I have ever seen him in his car'?
  • 12br 12br 10PBF 12br 12br 12blockquote 10That was actually the first time I have ever seen him in his car.
  • 0-
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12 Answers
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1blockquote
01cite10Peaceblinkfriend12cite10Should I say 'that was actually the first time I saw him in his car' or 'that was actually the first time I have ever seen him in his car'? 12br
12br
10PBF 12br
12br
12blockquote
10That was actually the first time I have ever seen him in his car. 0-
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0My ear says the first one is correct - 01i00was the first time I saw him02i02br
02br
00But you could say, "That was / is actually the 01b01i01u00only02u02i02b00 time I have ever seen him in his car."0-
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0Thanks for your replies. I guess I should be wondering what the differences between the two are then.02br
00'that was actually the first time I saw him in his car' 02br
00 'that was actually the first time I have ever seen him in his car'02br
02br
00Thanks again02br
02br
00PBF 0-
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0Hi, PBF.02br
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00I've decided I'm in a little bit over my head on this one. The meanings of the words can create some tense conflicts. There are probably some prescriptive rules on this particular case.02br
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00"I have ever seen him" covers all the time from the creation of the universe to the time of the statement. "The first time" implies that t
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0Hi Avangi02br
02br
00This is the first time the phone has rung.02br
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00This is the second time the phone has rung.02br
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00Hence, I'd say 01i00That was actually the first time I have ever seen him ...02i0-
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0Thanks Yoong, I can see that you're right. I just can't find the words to explain it.02br
02br
00The phone rang for the first time.02br
02br
00The phone has rung for the first time.02br
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00These are both okay, right?02br
02br
00That was the first time the phone ever rang. (I guess not??)02br
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0 Hi,02br
00these two are ok:02br
01i01b00That was the first time I saw him02br
00That was the fist time I'd seen him02b02i02br
02br
00The present perfect would not sound good at all to me, unless you are referring to the present (Ex: 01i01b00This02b00 is the first time I've seen h
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0Hi Avangi02br
02br
00This is the first/second/third, etc time I've seen her.02br
02br
00I hope this is helpful.0-
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Hello:

I have been studying the differences between the present perfect tense and the past simple tense for a couple of days now and I have learned that with structures like "the first time/second time / third time........etc you HAVE to use present perfect tense because even though time will pass by it will always be the first time .

Hope its a bit clea
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Anonymous you HAVE to use present perfect tense because even though time will pass by it will always be the first time .
Hope its a bit clear for you now!:) An example might make it so.
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