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My friend asked me about a person I never met in my life.

Should I say "I have never met him in my life." or "I never met him in my life."?

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  • Welcome Amish, I'm not sure, but I think you are asking for "present tense" (I have met) vs. "past tense" (I met), not for "past participle".
    – user114
    Commented Mar 24, 2013 at 11:29
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    For this question, like for many past tense/present perfect questions, both alternatives are fine.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Mar 24, 2013 at 11:55
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    @Carlo_R. "I have met" is present perfect: subject + have/has + past tense.
    – avpaderno
    Commented Mar 24, 2013 at 12:20

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In this case, the past and the present perfect express basically the same thing, so semantically it doesn't really matter which you use.

Other things being equal, answers very often reflect the form of the question. For instance:

SHE: Surely you met him last August?
YOU: No, I never met him in my life. ... your past tense matches hers

SHE: You've met him, haven't you?
YOU: No, I've never met him in my life. ... your present perfect matches hers

This is not by any means a rule; but it may help you in conversation.

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