Using present perfect accurately

Question

I found the following sentence on a Youtube video. Plus this clip is from the famous Harry Porter movie. So, indeed, we could assume there is no any grammatical error with the sentence.

Now, you Harry, who have never known your family.

I would be delighted if someone could let me know, why they have used present perfect here. I mean, the fact that he don't know his parents is a not a something that has not started at a particular time, though it is continued to the present. So, I would have used just present tense to express such an idea. What's more, there is no any time period or started time stated in the sentence. That's why I cannot understand the reason for this usage.

Reference:-

https://youtu.be/joE-ANMPG5k?t=659

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

dileepaNow, you Harry, who have never known your family, you see them standing beside you.

The part you quoted was not the whole sentence. I added the rest.

Anyway, that's not the important part of your question.

You have never known your family means that there is no point on the time line below at which Harry knew his family.

.........<<< past .................................. present ............... future >>>
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
^ ....... ^ .... ^ ............ ^ ...... ^ .... ^

At each of the six points indicated above, Harry did not know his family. No matter which other points I had picked, I could say the same thing. Harry did not know his family from the beginning of his life until the present moment.

When you have a state that continues from the past to the present, you use the present perfect. As we see in this example, it can be a negative state (not knowing). It doesn't have to be an affirmative state (knowing).

dileepathe fact that he don't know his parents is a not a something that has not started at a particular time

I suppose you could say that it started as soon as he was born, but I don't think that is important in determining the use of the present perfect.

dileepaSo, I would have used just present tense to express such an idea.

That would be Harry, you never know your family. That means that even when Harry sees his family, he cannot recognize them as his family. This does not happen to people unless there is something wrong with their brains, so you definitely don't want to say that.

dileepathere is no any time period or started time stated in the sentence

A time period or a start time is not necessary for the use of the present perfect tense. The use of 'never' means there is no start time. I'm not sure what sort of rule you are referring to here, or why you are expecting a time period or a start time.

'have never' is a typical way of using the present perfect.

Many Americans have never been taught their own history.
This spice has an aroma that I have never experienced.
I have never set foot inside Plymouth High School.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

dileepaSo, indeed, we could assume there is no any grammatical error with the sentence.

Movie scripts are not a good source for grammar. I don't have the book, so I don't know what she wrote, but "have never known" is good there. I would expect "never knew" ordinarily, but his family is right there in the vision, so the simple past no longer applies. The present tense would not work at all with "never", which is the key word, and the meaning would be wrong.

Using present perfect accurately

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions