present tense vs perfect present. Which one is correct?

Question

Jane and I are friends. I know/ i have known her very well
The answer is 'I know'. But i was wondering ...........Why is this correct? Why is 'i have know' wrong? i thought 'i have known her very well' sounds ok.
Would you please help me with this? Many thanks!

Answer 1

Grammatically speaking, both are correct. If this was an exercise in a workbook, my guess would be that since the sentence "Jane and I are friends." is in the present tense, they want the answer to be in the present tense as well.



Present perfect tense indicates an action that has happened in the past at an indefinite time OR (like in this case) began at some time in the past and continues in the present. I think any native speaker would have chosen "I know". It's just how we talk. But grammatically speaking, I can't see any reason why the present perfect tense would not also be a good choice.

Answer 2

I agree with not so loco Luis, with one qualification. If you want to emphasize the length of time for which you and Jane have been friends, you would use the present perfect, as in "I have known her very well for _____ years." However, it seems that you had to choose between two alternatives on a test or an exercise. If those two sentences, with nothing more to either of them, were the choices, Luis is right, for the reasons he gives.

Answer 3

"I have known her very well".. sounds wrong. To me, it sounds like "I'm done getting to know her", like there's nothing else to know about her. I think that's why that tense is called "perfect".



You never stop getting to know a person, I assure you. Everybody keeps their little secrets, all will eventually be revealed but in the meanwhile you will get to know them better. It's a continuous, non-stop process.



"I know", however, is plain present tense, which is used to describe something that's happening right now, without any extra flavor of progressiveness or completeness/perfectness. And I think it suits this case much better.

Answer 4

Locoluis is correct. It's "I know her very well".



We would use "I have known" with a duration of time, like "I have known her very well since last year" or "I have known her very well for five years". But it doesn't sound right standing alone.



It's just the usage, I think. I can't put my finger on a rule to tell you.