'Do you ever' or 'Have you ever?'

[meomuopcon]

Pls distinguish 2 sentences

Do you ever see this film? and

Have you ever senn this film?

Are there any differences between them?

Thanks
Kitten

[mykwyner]

There is no difference in meaning between these two sentences:

Did you ever see this film?

Have you ever seen this film?

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by meomuopcon

Pls distinguish 2 sentences
Do you ever see this film? and
Have you ever seen this film?
Are there any differences between them?
Thanks
Kitten

I'd say that it's not all that common with your specific sentence, Kitten. That's because of verb choice and the specific meaning. When we use 'do/does' in this fashion it holds a meaning of routinely/habitually.

"Seeing one film" does not seem to hold a routine/habitual meaning so it does sound a wee bit strange.

For events that are more habitual in nature, then we often use "Do you ever ...?".

Do you ever go to the movies?

Do you ever ski at Aspen?

Do you ever snowboard/waterski/etc?

The meaning for "have you ever ..." is "have you had such and such a life experience" and for "do you ever ...", the meaning is, "is this part of the routine in your life?".

[Casiopea]

Simple tenses refer to time. Time is important. Below is a dialogue between a lawyer and a client. The lawyer uses "Did you" because she is looking for a specific date.

Sam: Did you ever see this film?
Pat: Yeah.
Sam: When was that?

Perfect tenses refer to the act. The action is important. Below is a dialogue between two friends who are picking out a DVD at the video store.

Sam: Have you ever seen this film?
Pat: Yeah.
Sam: Was it good?

Note that, for some speakers there isn't a difference between "Did you" and "Have you". They use them interchangeably. For example,

Ex: Have you eaten?
Ex: Did you eat?

To me, however, "Have you eaten?" means, I want to know if you ate, and not when you ate. And "Did you eat?" means, I want to know when you ate:

Hope that helps.

[sitifan]

Do you ever go to the movies?
____, I seldom go to the movies.
Which word should I say, Yes or No?

[Harry Smith]

Originally Posted by meomuopcon

Pls distinguish 2 sentences

Do you ever see this film? and

Have you ever senn this film?

Are there any differences between them?

Thanks
Kitten

I'd avoid using "ever" in present simple. It's better to use it in present perfect: Have you ever seen this film? It's o.k

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by sitifan

Do you ever go to the movies?
____, I seldom go to the movies.
Which word should I say, Yes or No?

I wouldn't say no there, because that would mean never. Better:

Q: Do you ever go to the movies?
A: Yes, but not very often.

~R

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Harry Smith

I'd avoid using "ever" in present simple. It's better to use it in present perfect: Have you ever seen this film? It's o.k

This 'ever' is not the 'ever' of a lifetime, Harry. It's the 'ever' of one's routine life.

Asking "Have you ever ...?" and "Do you ever ...?" raises different concepts in an ENLs mind.

Answers to the first include; never/a couple of times/a few times/ several times/ many times/countless times/ etc.

Answers to the second include; /never/rarely-seldom/ not often/often/really often/a lot/etc.

You can see by the answers that the concept is really quite different, so it's perfectly all right to use 'ever' with PST.

[sarat_106]

I am not a professional teacher. In this case the clarifiction given by Harry Smith is very clear. It is a matter of prefernce whether to use present simple or present perfect, with a time indicator like 'ever'. Given the choice, present perfect is is certainly more suitable and appropriate

[the concierge]

Why the confusion?

Do you ever . . . ?

this means nowadays because it's the present tense


Have you ever . . . ?

this means in your whole life because it's the present perfect tense


Did you ever . . . ? can also be used if you want to focus on

a finished action in the past because it's using the past simple