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?*](http://ell.stackexchange.com/q/13255/32), especially §[3.1 Grammatical meaning](http://ell.stackexchange.com/a/13260/32). – StoneyB on hiatus Oct 06 '15 at 18:18
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