I have this example in my practice book where I need to use the Past Simple or Present Perfect:
My grandfather died before I was born. I have never met him.
The right answer is "I never met him".
Shouldn't we use the Present Perfect with "never"?
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1Could you explain why you think we have to use present perfect with "never"?– Roaring FishCommented Jan 23, 2016 at 9:53
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Related question, Can the choice between Present Perfect vs Past Simple be influenced by external events? and Present Perfect for the past?.– user140086Commented Jan 23, 2016 at 10:12
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Could you please explain what you mean by "need to place"? Also, regarding 'The right answer is "I never met him"': how is the textbook's question phrased?– LawrenceCommented Jan 23, 2016 at 11:17
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2 Answers
"I've never met him" would imply that you still might, in this life.
The distinguishing feature of perfect constructions in English is that there is some relevance to the present: what the specific relevance is may vary from case to case.
With negatives, the present relevance is nearly always that the circumstances in which the event is possible still hold: you might imagine that it implies the word "yet".
So it would be very odd to use it of seeing somebody who has died.
answered Jan 23, 2016 at 11:48
