saw/ have seen

Question

It was like a miracle that you never saw before.It was like a miracle that you have never seen before. Are they OK?Thank you

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Ignoring the quirky semantics, they are grammatically OK. I like the second one better. before is unnecessary, but not wrong.

If it is like something I have never seen, how would I know what it is like at all?
Normally, when we say that something is like another thing, we intend to give some information to the listener by which he will know the sort of thing we are talking about, for example, It is like a table.

Compare: It was like a table that you have never seen.

Maybe a better way to say it is: It was not like any table/miracle you have ever seen.
Or: It was a table/miracle unlike any(thing) you have ever seen.

CJ

Marius Hancu · Answer

It was like a miracle that you had never seen (before).
is also possible:

--------
She sort of crossed her arms as she responded. It was a look you had
never seen before, because in the two months you had dated her, she
had never gotten angry. " I don't know what you're trying to tell
me. Why are you trying to bring me down? You're sick. You're really
sick," she said as she walked out the door, and you wondered for half
a second if it could be true.

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/modlang/carasi/via/ViaVol9_1Hansen.htm
--------

saw/ have seen

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