Question
Updated on
27 Nov 2022
- Simplified Chinese (China)
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English (US)
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Japanese
Question about English (US)
Which verb tense sounds more natural?
1. You have no idea how much this *has helped* me.
2. You have no idea how much this *helped* me.
Which verb tense sounds more natural?
1. You have no idea how much this *has helped* me.
2. You have no idea how much this *helped* me.
1. You have no idea how much this *has helped* me.
2. You have no idea how much this *helped* me.
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27 Nov 2022
Featured answer
- English (US)
@studiousboy I don’t think it’s wrong. If you say 2, you’re talking about something that helped you in the past and doesn’t still have an effect on the present. But now that I’ve thought about it, you should change “this” to “that” in sentence 2 because whatever helped you happened in the past, so it’s figuratively far away from you.
You have no idea how much that helped me.
Highly-rated answerer
Read more comments
- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Thank you! I’m wondering, if I used the past simple tense, would it be wrong? Or it would mean something different from the present perfect tense?
- English (US)
@studiousboy I don’t think it’s wrong. If you say 2, you’re talking about something that helped you in the past and doesn’t still have an effect on the present. But now that I’ve thought about it, you should change “this” to “that” in sentence 2 because whatever helped you happened in the past, so it’s figuratively far away from you.
You have no idea how much that helped me.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Thank you! That makes perfect sense to me. How about the present perfect tense? Do you think it’s also necessary to change “this” to “that” in sentence 1?
You have no idea how much *that* has helped me.
You have no idea how much *that* has helped me.
- English (US)
@studiousboy No, in that case “this” is better. Presumably, you’re using the present perfect tense because whatever the listener did to help you is still affecting the present. So it’s figuratively close to you.
Highly-rated answerer
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Good to know. Thank you! What about this situation? Which verb tense is more appropriate?
1. Thank you! *You’ve helped* me a lot.
2. Thank you! *You helped* me a lot.
1. Thank you! *You’ve helped* me a lot.
2. Thank you! *You helped* me a lot.
- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
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