Tenses

Hi guys,

By the time we get there I know the show will have started. 

I'm just jumping into your interesting discussion here, with my interpretation for the last little bit, above. My apologies if my comments aren't germane.

.... I know .... Simple Present. I know this, right now.

....the show will have started". Future perfect. Describes the situation that will exist by the time we get there 

You could recast the sentence, and show this interpretation more clearly, by saying  

Pieanne,   That sentence, "I met him five years ago" could indicate that you still know him, or that you have known him on and off for five years, as in:-

Question:-  "Do you know him?"

Answer:-   "Yes, I met him five years ago."

A better answer would be  "Yes, I have known him for five years."  (But you can never control what people are going to say).

An answer of, "I met him five years ago," is ambiguous and would prompt me to ask for clarification, "Do you know him well?  Do you still know him?" (Especially if I were a roving reporter, or I wanted a reference for him).

Then the clarification could be, "No, I only met him once at a party".

or

"Yes, he married my sister."

<"Yes, I have known him for five years." > This means "we've been in touch for 5 years", more or less again...

Or it could mean you are living with him!

Tallulah Tam wrote:

<"Yes, I have known him for five years." > This means "we've been in touch for 5 years", more or less again... Or it could mean you are living with him!

Well all the mores and the lesses are no grammatical matters...

Tallulah Tam wrote:

Generally speaking, I would take an answer of "I met him five years ago." to mean just that. You had one meeting with him five years ago. If anyone else has different ideas, please don't be shy.

Dear friends,

It is my opinion that it is possible to confuse two meanings of «meet». The first is «become acquainted with». The second is «encounter».

It is my opinion also that it is not possible to know the meaning of «meet» in the bare sentence «I met her five years ago in Mariabronn». It is perhaps either.

It is fortunate that we meet bare sentences only in considerations of grammatical matters, no?

Kind regards,

Goldmund