simple past + present perfect?

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CarloSsS

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Czech
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
Is it OK to use simple past with present perfect like this?

I didn't hear what you've said.

It sounds ungrammatical and unnatural to me. I'd say "I didn't hear what you said." instead.
 
You are right.
 
Am I right in saying that this combination of tenses (in this particular sentence) is ungrammatical, or unnatural or maybe both?
 
It's probably not ungrammatical, but it's certainly unnatural.
 
Could you please explain why this is unnatural?
 
(Not a Teacher)

I'm not sure. Maybe it's just that there is less "ambiguity" between the present perfect and the simple past than there is between, for instance, the past perfect and the simple past. I suppose both actions are considered squarely in the past, so the present perfect makes no sense to native ears.
 
What if there was "just" after "have"? Like so:

I didn't hear what you've just said.

Would it still be unnatural? If not, how come that by simply adding "just" it becomes all right?
 
What if there was "just" after "have"? Like so:

I didn't hear what you've just said.

Would it still be unnatural? If not, how come that by simply adding "just" it becomes all right?

Yes, it's still unnatural.
 
Could you please explain why this is unnatural?

By 'unnatural' we mean that it's not colloquial; it's not how native speakers would say it.
 
By 'unnatural' we mean that it's not colloquial; it's not how native speakers would say it.

That's what I thought from the very beginning before I asked here. Thank you all for your advice once again.

Now, how do I persuade one student of mine who stubbornly claims that it's all right to say this because one native speaker told him so? Any advice how to approach and deal with this situation?

It's very hard for me (as a non-native) to oppose native speakers, as students tend to believe them more even in situations when they're clearly wrong, such as this one.
 
The speaking and the hearing were simultaneous, so it is logical to use the same tense for the two actions.

Would the person say that the opinion of any single Czech speaker would always be right? You must have disagreements about Czech, so a single opinion may be mistaken. Maybe the person spoke a dialect or came from a region where the form is used, but it sounds strange to me because I have heard the sentence with the past tense used hundreds of times in my life- it's a common enough sentence.
 
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