I ..... him since we met a year ago.
options:
a) didn't see b)haven't seen c)hadn't seen
MyApproach:
Here,I am confused between didn't see VS haven't seen
Also,Which Tense usage is used in this example?
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justin takro
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2 Answers
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a won't work with since, but both b and c will:
I wonder what Joe Blow is doing. I haven't seen him since we met a year ago.
I ran into Joe Blow last night. I hadn't seen him since we met a year ago.
StoneyB on hiatus
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1Hats off to you, Sir! Today I come to know that 'did' cannot work with 'since'. – Rucheer M Oct 06 '15 at 10:01
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@RuchirM Same here +1 for all the great knowledge we get from Sir. – justin takro Oct 06 '15 at 16:03
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It should be (b) because you are saying what happened in a time span from the point "met" up to now, which is october 2014 to october 2015.
(C) is also possibe, but the time span starts from the point "met" until a later point of time but earlier than "now". For example, from october 2014 to june 2015.
Chu Wa Tim Tim
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How do you know in this Example "I ran into Joe Blow last night. I hadn't seen him since we met a year ago" that ( the time span starts from the point "met" until a later point of time but earlier than "now) or I am gonna judge that? I use past perfect tense because the action has already happened before certain moment in the past. – justin takro Oct 06 '15 at 16:07
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@justintakro Perfects have "relative" tense; that is, the named action takes place at a time before the 'Reference Time' you are talking about. In the Joe Blow passage, "last night" in the preceding sentence defines the Reference Time for the past perfect. See What is the perfect, and how should I use it?, especially §3.1 Grammatical meaning. – StoneyB on hiatus Oct 06 '15 at 18:18
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