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If the phrase is a general observation by the narrator, the idiom should be in its present tense form.
You don't bring a knife to a gunfight.
If the narrator is making a specific statement about that instance, it could be
He shouldn't have brought a knife to a gunfight.
Both statements are about what the narrator thinks should happen, or should have happened,...
1
The subject of the sentence is most. The most is 824.
The most what? The most hits. They are using hit as a noun, and modifying it with the noun key.
What is a hit? Well, it is what happens when you hit something. A fighter might take a lot of hits. So can a piano key. Some other things can get hits - for instance, a fishing line or a want ad.
...
1
It's talking about what may be true now, about a past occurrence.
It is possible that the universe started with a "big bang".
Now, that's as far past as you can get, but we still use a present tense "is possible" to describe the present possibility that that is what happened in the past.
If you say "was possible", you are ...
1
The author is referring to the time you asked for his number, and the fact that the author thinks you (seemingly) waited a long time before asking. The delay is the key sentiment here so maybe he/she was hoping you had asked sooner.
1
I think the person from whom the number was to be asked was eagerly waiting for the other person to ask for his number.
So even if, the person may have asked the number not too later, it seemed to the other person as if he had waited for a long time.
So the word 'seemed like' has been used.
1
It is not a special privilege of native speakers. One of the functions of "do" as an auxiliary verb is as an intensifier.
I do study hard
is an emphatic statement about my studying.
I suppose as a purely technical matter you could replace every simple past tense with "did" plus the root verb without violating the rules of English grammar. No native ...
1
If you choose to use past perfect, you are setting the temporal focus to a time after you learnt the things - here, the time when you were talking and practising.
If you use the simple past, you are not setting a temporal focus.
Both are grammatical, both are idiomatic, and both refer to exactly the same events.
[By the way, the teacher taught you, ...
1
You may have known the answers before taking the exam, but if you had forgotten them by the time of the exam, then you would have had to read the passage text. The reason you didn't need to read the passage text was that you knew them at the time of the exam.
This is because "know" in English doesn't usually mean "learn"; it usually (and in your example) ...
1
Both of your sentences are grammatically correct.
Now, let's go back to their difference in meaning.
She has seen the real meaning in these messages. ( This could mean that She has just seen .... , or she has seen at some indefinite time
during the day/week, etc. );
She saw the real meaning in these messages. ( - implies a terminated period of ...
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