English Language & Usage Asked on January 21, 2021
A funny guy on twitter made this post:
"waaah society doesnt make sense" As opposed to what? foraging? "euhheuuhuh we are not hard wired for city life" a neighboring chieftain just clubbed your dad to death for grunting weird. you accidentally made Fire one time 8 years ago and have never managed to do it again
He posted a reply to that post where he wondered if the last line was conjugated correctly—"i think it should just be ‘never managed to do it again’. or ‘have not managed to do it since’." I’m curious too now
Would like to hear your guys thoughts
"Never managed to do it again" implies some sort of "doneness," i.e. one has given up trying to do it again. This tense is called the preterite. The focus is on the action (in this case, the failure to make fire again).
"Have never managed to do it again" implies some sort of continuity, i.e. one is still trying. This tense is called the present perfect. The focus is on the consequences of the action (in this case, drawing attention to the potential consequences of having failed to make fire again), or the duration of the action (in this case, the fact that the person has tried to make fire multiple times, always failing, and may still be trying).
Both are correct, they just mean different things.
Answered by Riley Scott Jacob on January 21, 2021
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