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Can I say if I'm talking on the phone while I am walking around, and I saw a flower few minutes ago.

  • I have seen a flower, it's weird because it's not the season.

Should I use "just"?

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  • I just saw a flower, it's weird because it is out of season. Jul 1, 2022 at 19:09
  • Why do you want to use the present perfect at all? The action of seeing the flower is entirely in the past, so the past tense is a more natural choice.
    – stangdon
    Jul 1, 2022 at 23:27
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    @stangdon - A British English speaker would use the present perfect here. Jul 2, 2022 at 8:16
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    @stangdon - So do I. Recently I've started noticing adverts saying "[Our product] just got better", but I find the usage jarringly American. See this question. Jul 2, 2022 at 12:28
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    @stangdon - and this blog Jul 2, 2022 at 12:36

1 Answer 1

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Using "just" helps to give the sense of "a few minutes ago". So you can use "just" because that is what you mean. There's no grammar reason why you must you "just".

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