But let’s say someone asked me, “Have you seen John lately?”
I would probably say “Yes, I saw him yesterday,” but I wouldn’t rule out that I might say “Yes, I’ve seen him yesterday”.
Anyway, if someone said it, I’m sure I wouldn’t notice.
It doesn’t FEEL wrong to me to say it, even though I know it’s grammatically incorrect.
So I’m curious. Is it just because I’m a non-native speaker that I feel this way or are there native speakers of English who wouldn’t have a problem with other native speakers saying for instance “I’ve seen him yesterday”? And are there native speakers who say it?
As usual: Thanks a lot for your contribution!
Mikkel...
Hailey's Hayley's answer is correct.
The simple past tense always refers to an action or situation that is finished.
I would not use the present perfect tense unless the sentence included one of the 'time words/markers/expressions'.
You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc.
We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, for (a period of time), and just.
So...... simple past tense only
You will find native speakers who say this - but they are still wrong! As with every language there are some people who make mistakes, even if it is their native language. As you are learning the language it is better to try to learn the rules - eventually you will recognise the mistakes even if they are made by a native!
You could say "I saw him yesterday" (a specific time) or "yes, I've seen him recently" (this gives a vague idea as to when you saw him, but is not exact, therefore the present perfect tense may be used!)
Hi Mikkel, great question!
A native speaker would notice that, actually.
"I saw him yesterday" works great, as Hayley had pointed out.
Another correction, "alright" instead of "all right" ;)
@Mikkel, I agree with your friend that English is easy to learn but difficult to master:) One important reason, I think is the variation in grammar, vocabulary and structure according to the geographical location. Generally, we consider US-English and British-English as the standard English but as we are considering two references we get confused by listening different structures indicating same meaning!
English is now influencing the people belongs to different cultures and community so they are speaking or writing English sometimes by looking at US-English and sometimes by looking at British-English. This is where they put their legs in two boats!!!
Except all this, English is a dynamic language and I remember a discussion shared by @Alan regarding how English will sound in next 100 year!!
Here is a link I came across and it's about how will the future of English be like.
The absence of genders is definitely one of the nice things about English when you begin to learn it.
I began learning English when I was 7. I tend to agree with my friend. I don’t remember learning English as difficult, but after almost 40 years, I still don’t master it. I don’t know whether English is actually more difficult to master than other languages since English is the only foreign language I speak well.
English spelling truly is a monster, but as a Dane I’ve never thought that much about it, because Danish spelling is equally crazy, so I’m used to it.
Many years ago my brother - who at that time was a terrible speller (of Danish) - said to me, “I can’t hear how the words should be spelled.” All I could tell him was, “Neither can I.”
