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Jeff Morrow
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Most people will view the sentences as being indistinguishable in meaning.

You did everything you could do

definitely refers to the past, but may imply that the situation persists into the present.

You have done everything you could have done

definitely refers to the past, but emphasizes that it is the recent past and does not deny that the situation persists into the present.

You have done everything you could do

usually refers just to the recent past, but does not deny explicitly that, as of now, you have the ability to do more than you used to.

You have done everything that you can do

usually refers to recent past and present.

Even native speakers, however, are seldom sensitive to the nuances of tense, particularly not in speech or informal writing, and will, if it is important to distinguish among those meanings, do so with with clarifying phrases or clauses rather than relying solely on tense.

Most people will view the sentences as being indistinguishable in meaning.

You did everything you could do

definitely refers to the past, but may imply that the situation persists into the present.

You have done everything you could have done

definitely refers to the past, but emphasizes that it is the recent past and does not deny that the situation persists into the present.

You have done everything you could do

usually refers just to the recent past, but does not deny explicitly that, as of now, you have the ability to do more than you used to.

You have done everything that you can do

usually refers to recent past and present.

Even native speakers, however, are seldom sensitive to the nuances of tense, particularly not in speech or informal writing, and will, if it is important to distinguish among those meanings, do with with clarifying phrases or clauses rather than relying solely on tense.

Most people will view the sentences as being indistinguishable in meaning.

You did everything you could do

definitely refers to the past, but may imply that the situation persists into the present.

You have done everything you could have done

definitely refers to the past, but emphasizes that it is the recent past and does not deny that the situation persists into the present.

You have done everything you could do

usually refers just to the recent past, but does not deny explicitly that, as of now, you have the ability to do more than you used to.

You have done everything that you can do

usually refers to recent past and present.

Even native speakers, however, are seldom sensitive to the nuances of tense, particularly not in speech or informal writing, and will, if it is important to distinguish among those meanings, do so with with clarifying phrases or clauses rather than relying solely on tense.

Source Link
Jeff Morrow
  • 32.2k
  • 26
  • 58

Most people will view the sentences as being indistinguishable in meaning.

You did everything you could do

definitely refers to the past, but may imply that the situation persists into the present.

You have done everything you could have done

definitely refers to the past, but emphasizes that it is the recent past and does not deny that the situation persists into the present.

You have done everything you could do

usually refers just to the recent past, but does not deny explicitly that, as of now, you have the ability to do more than you used to.

You have done everything that you can do

usually refers to recent past and present.

Even native speakers, however, are seldom sensitive to the nuances of tense, particularly not in speech or informal writing, and will, if it is important to distinguish among those meanings, do with with clarifying phrases or clauses rather than relying solely on tense.