It is /was the best meal...

[subhajit123]

We are currently discussing with my friends what the correct grammar would be in this context: you have just finished a meal and want to say it was/is the best meal you ever had. What tenses would be used here?

It was the best meal I have ever had. - some say past simple should not be mixed with present perfect like this and would choose past perfect.

I asked this question in this forum but didn't receive satisfying answers. Can someone please help me with this?

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/it-is-was-the-best-meal-i.3359296/

 

[Roman55]

I would probably say one of the following, with a slight preference for the contracted version of the first one.


That is the best meal I have ever had. (That's the best meal I've ever had).

That was the best meal I ever had.

I would definitely not use the past perfect if I've just finished the meal.

 

[subhajit123]

While I was eating it:This is the best meal I've ever had.
When I had finished it: That was the best meal I've ever had.
Some time later, after eating an even better meal: That was the best meal I'd ever had.

What form should i use after a few months if i have not eaten another better meal since then?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I would use the following:

That was the best meal I've ever had.