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ademoglu

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Hi,

Let us say that a have a girlfriend who tells me that she wants to break up with me because she gathers that I don't love her. Having heard that, I say, ''I have (always) loved you.''

Does using present perfect tense imply that I still love her?

Thanks.
 
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emsr2d2

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Hi,

Let us say that a have a girlfriend who tells me that she wants to break up with me because she gathers that I don't love you. Having heard that, I say, ''I have (always) loved you.''

Does using present perfect tense imply that I still love her?

Thanks.

Did you mean to use "her" instead of "you"?
 

emsr2d2

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Thanks for changing it. It makes sense now!

If you said "I have always loved you", that would indicate that you still love her. If you said "I always loved you", it would be a little ambiguous. It could mean that you have stopped loving her. You might have to add "... and I still do" to make it clear.
 

Tarheel

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She wants to break up with you because she thinks you don't love her anymore. You say: "But I do love you. I love you with my heart and soul. I love you with every fiber of my being."

"I have always loved you" says that you love her now and that you loved her way back when (before you even met).
 

emsr2d2

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Don't be put off by Tarheel's claim that it means you loved her even before you met. If you were trying to exaggerate or be overly flowery, you might want to pretend that that was the case but in normal speech, it means you started loving her sometime after you first met and you have loved her ever since.
 

Tdol

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You might have to add "... and I still do" to make it clear.

Or and I always will if you want to be a bit more melodramatic.
 
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