Suppose that Mary is eating sushi now. Which of the following sentences should Mary use?
(1) "I have never eaten sushi before."
(2) "I had never eaten sushi before."
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2How many learners have eaten sushi for the first time! Related: 1. Does "this is the first time I have eaten sushi" mean I have finished eating or I'm still eating sushis? 2. "This is the first time" + present perfect 3. I've never eaten sushi before or until now 4. "Have you ever eaten sushi?" "No, I haven't." vs "No, I never have." What's the difference?– Mari-Lou ACommented Oct 31, 2023 at 7:50
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@Mari-LouA Can you tell me how you do that? I tried asking about it on META and just got shot down. I often want to post more than one and don't know how to choose more than one.– LambieCommented Nov 1, 2023 at 17:59
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@Lambie How to do what? Embed links in the comments? Do you mean choose more than one duplicate? But I only listed the duplicates I found by searching for the terms "sushi" and "I have never" . The question, as of yet, has no close votes. If you think this question should be closed as a duplicate, you can only choose one in the list I provided. But someone can choose a different older question.– Mari-Lou ACommented Nov 1, 2023 at 19:09
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@Mari-LouA Yes, list all those duplicates, exactly. I only see how to list ONE out of a list of them but not ALL of them.– LambieCommented Nov 2, 2023 at 13:53
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@Lambie I think you're misunderstanding the "comment", I haven't voted to close the question, I just went through the archives myself and picked out the ones that looked very similar. If you know how to post a link in a comment, there's nothing else to learn. To embed it's: [ Question Title ] no space ( URL )– Mari-Lou ACommented Nov 2, 2023 at 19:25
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2 Answers
So, this is a case of present perfect (I have) versus past perfect (I had).
In this case, since the sushi eating is in the present, it would be "I have". If you were telling a story about the first time you ate sushi, you would say 'I had', i.e. 'I had never had sushi before, but I loved it.'
Note that in English, you can also use 'to have' in this case. So, 'I've never had sushi before'.
You can make a case for both present and past, but neither seems a particularly natural or normal thing to say in that context. Try something like "This is my first time eating sushi." instead.
It might make more sense to consider the question to ask Mary: "Have/had you ever eaten sushi?" If she is currently eating sushi then "Have you" would be an odd question (since the answer is obviously "Yes"), so "Had you ..." would be better.
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"This is my first time eating sushi" is shorter than "This is the first time I've (ever) eaten sushi". Thank you very much, James. Commented Oct 31, 2023 at 6:58
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I disagree. Have you eaten sushi before is exactly what you would say to someone if they are eating sushi. She might answer, No, I haven't.– LambieCommented Nov 1, 2023 at 18:00