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I'd like you to tell me which one of my following sentences is correct. I am not sure if I have to use the past simple or present perfect.

I'd add that I want to talk about something which is still true. I'm still in love with the person I talk to!


  1. I've loved you as soon as I saw you

    Or

  2. I loved you as soon as I saw you


  1. I've loved you from the first day

    Or

  2. I loved you from the first day


I need you to tell me, but I think present perfect must be correct since we say :

I've loved her since I met her

Thank you very much

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    You need to distinguish between references to a point in time, like as soon as I saw you and references to a length of time, like from the first day. You can use the perfect with lengths of time because that's what it's for; but you can't use it with a point in time. That's what the past tense is for, among other things. This is not a matter of stativity so much as it is of time reference; statives always refer to lengths of time, but they're not the only way. Jun 2, 2020 at 19:25

1 Answer 1

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Since you are talking about something which is still true, you need to use present perfect:

We use the present perfect:

  • for something that started in the past and continues in the present:

They've been married for nearly fifty years.

She has lived in Liverpool all her life.

<...>

(https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/present-perfect)

Now let's return to your question. Sentences 2 and 4 are not what we need because we are talking about something which is still true, as we said (i.e. "I loved you" means "I loved you in the past, but now I don't"). Sentences 1 and 3 are perfectly fine.

Please note that present perfect can also be used in other situations. You can follow the link to the British Council site (or, perhaps, this link - https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html) for more details. Hope that helps!

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