Use of past tense for comparisons

Question

"It was the single most painful experience of my life."
This sentence means that some experience that I had in the past was the most painful experience of my life. But does it necessarily mean that it is still the most painful experience of my life ?

Free_spirit · Accepted Answer

Hi,

This is the type of question that can be debated. It is difficult to ascertain without more context to expand the statement. There are multiple, logical interpretations, however some will require assumptions. For example, a statement like "this is the best song ever" could imply that in the past, present and future it is the best song and can never be beaten (albeit that "best" is often taken to be a statement of opinion rather than fact).

So, "It was the single most painful experience of my life."

If the context was a story about a history being related after someone has died (the narrative type story, seen in movies such as "The Lovely Bones"), then it would indeed mean that nothing else was as painful in the rest of that persons life. "It was the single most painful experience of my entire life."

If the context is a present day story, then it would imply that there has been no other experiences as painful, but there may be worse experiences in the future (which is unknown). "It was the single most painful experience of my life to date."

If the context is a that this is only part-way through a story, then the rest of the history (up until the present day) is yet to unfold, so it would only mean that it was the most painful experience yet encountered. "It was the single most painful experience of my life up to that point in time."

This is where context is vitally important, otherwise things must be looked at literally, and logically. Without any other assumptions then the sentence reads that it was and is still the most painful experience of my life. I say this because "my life" can be read as "the experience of being alive until this point in time", and as it was the most painful experience there can be something more painful.

As I said, the statement (without further context) is open to debate and interpretation.

Use of past tense for comparisons

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