Had never been good before vs Has never been good before

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'Had never been good before' is used in the past perfect tense to refer to a point in the past before another point in the past. 'Has never been good before' is used in the present perfect tense to refer to a point in time up to now. The choice between them depends on the tense you want to use.

Last updated: March 17, 2024 • 708 views

Had never been good before

This phrase is correct in the past perfect tense to refer to a point in the past before another point in the past.

This phrase is used to describe a situation that was not good at a specific point in the past, before another past event. It indicates a sequence of events in the past.

Examples:

She had never been good before she started practicing every day.
He had never been good before he took that course.
They had never been good before they hired a new manager.

Show examples from the web [+]

May 25, 2010 ... It had never been good before. But it was: it was good. Jesus, it downright tingled. Like pop-rocks. Bloody fucking pop-rocks before his braces ...
Jan 4, 2009 ... My aim had never been good before, but somehow, by some miracle, it hit him in the forehead. "Hey!" he shouted as he lost his balance and fell ...
Dec 1, 2014 ... Abbeywood and Filton High had never been good before." Mr Baker said news of the school's transformation had already begun to reach ...
world records have exceeded the previous ones by a great extent. During the development of throwing in. China, the achievement had never been good before .

Alternatives:

had never been good until then
had never been good previously
had never been good up to that point
had never been good in the past
had never been good in that period

Has never been good before

This phrase is correct in the present perfect tense to refer to a point in time up to now.

This phrase is used to describe a situation that has not been good up to the present moment. It indicates a continuous state from the past up to now.

Examples:

She has never been good before this competition.
He has never been good before this project.
They have never been good before this season.

Show examples from the web [+]

Nov 10, 1999 ... Fabiola Tafolla: The situation of diversity in higher education has never been good. Before Prop 209 and SP1 and SP2, diversity was already at ...
Triglycerides: 70. HDL: 43 ideal range is 40-60. This has never been good before ! LDLC: 115. My doc did a comprehensive metabolic panel:
Mar 27, 2013 ... That has never been good before. He walks back and tells me I am getting a warning. I signed and got on my way thinking WTF in my head.
Jun 17, 2014 ... Maybe this is a product of the fact that Valbuena has never been good before. After all, even with his 210 plate-appearance sample from this ...

Alternatives:

has never been good until now
has never been good up to this point
has never been good so far
has never been good until today
has never been good up to the present

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Had never been good before vs Has never been good before