Anonymous  +  656500 Wed, 28 Jan 09 08:19 PM Hey, I've lost some points writing a composition for school, but i'm not sure my teacher is right about this one. Please let me know if the following sentence is correct or incorrect. any help will be appreciated. "For some, a friend is someone who has known you for years and always stood by your side, while for others a friend can be someone they just met on the street and exchanged a few words with." The teacher corrected it to "have just".  I wanted to use "just" as in simply and not as in "this moment". Thanks for the help! Anonymous Relationships, Sentences, Friendships, Friends

	Fandorin  +  656505 Wed, 28 Jan 09 08:33 PM Hi, Anon. Your teacher is right, you ought to use Present Perfect there because you link meeting itself and the result is obvious now, in future. Just itself implies the result of past action right now, at the moment of speaking, and therefore Present Perfect should be applied. Fandorin Joined on Thu, Dec 20 2007 Moscow Contributing Member 1,384 Whatever happens, be yourself. Present Tenses, Present Perfect, Speaking, Chat, Friendships

	Clive  +  656506 Wed, 28 Jan 09 08:34 PM Hi, I've lost some points writing a composition for school, but i'm not sure my teacher is right about this one. Please let me know if the following sentence is correct or incorrect. any help will be appreciated. "For some, a friend is someone who has known you for years and always stood by your side, while for others a friend can be someone they just met on the street and exchanged a few words with." The teacher corrected it to "have just".  I wanted to use "just" as in simply and not as in "this moment". I don't like either 'have just met'  or 'just met'. I'd say "A friend can be someone they just meet on the street and exchange a few words with." In other words, I take the meaning to be 'A friend can be just a casual acquaintance'. It's your sentence. What did you mean when you wrote it?  Did you mean my interpretation? Or did you mean, eg 'A friend can be someone you just met on the street in 2001 and exchanged a few words with'? This sounds odd, because there is no indication in the sentence that you have had any involvement with the person since that point in the past. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,654 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo Relationships, Sentences, Friendships, Friends