has barely budged vs had barely budged

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'Has barely budged' is used in the present perfect tense to indicate an action that started in the past and continues up to the present. 'Had barely budged' is used in the past perfect tense to indicate an action that was completed before another past action. The choice between them depends on the timeframe you are referring to.

Last updated: March 20, 2024 • 742 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English in the present perfect tense.

"has barely budged "

This phrase is used in the present perfect tense to indicate an action that started in the past and continues up to the present. It implies that there has been very little movement or change.

Examples:

The stock price has barely budged in the last month.
Despite our efforts, the needle on the scale has barely budged.
The car has barely budged since it ran out of gas.
Her opinion has barely budged on the matter.
The project has barely budged forward since last week.

Show examples from the web [+]

Press. Schedule an interview · Media coverage. Quick Facts The pay gap has barely budged in a decade. At the current rate, the gap won't close for more than ...
Oct 9, 2014 ... ... to $782 in the second quarter of this year (the most recent data available). But in real terms, the median has barely budged over that period.
Dec 19, 2015 ... ... the number of homes sales increasing 70 percent since the 2011 bottom, the median value they're selling for has barely budged since 2009.
Nov 23, 2015 ... Minority college enrollment has skyrocketed, but the black share of the student bodies at top research schools has barely budged in 20 years.

Alternatives:

has hardly moved
has scarcely shifted
has barely changed
has made little progress
has shown minimal movement

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English in the past perfect tense.

"had barely budged "

This phrase is used in the past perfect tense to indicate an action that was completed before another past action. It implies that there was very little movement or change at a specific point in the past.

Examples:

By the time we arrived, the needle on the scale had barely budged.
The car had barely budged when the tow truck arrived.
Her opinion had barely budged before the new evidence came to light.
The project had barely budged by the time the deadline approached.
The stock price had barely budged before the market closed.

Show examples from the web [+]

Oct 29, 2015 ... After they had lived with their new faces for half a year, the average score had barely budged -- to 24.6. The uptick was so small that it could ...
Dec 8, 2015 ... At the same time, roles for African Americans and Latinos had barely budged, with them holding just over 6% of tech jobs at the company.
Feb 20, 2014 ... In the 2012 American Values Survey, the share of people agreeing that unions were necessary had barely budged in the South (60%) and ...
Jun 23, 2014 ... The same survey found that Americans' financial self-assessment had barely budged since June 2009, when the recession officially ended: ...

Alternatives:

had hardly moved
had scarcely shifted
had barely changed
had made little progress
had shown minimal movement

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has barely budged vs had barely budged

"has barely budged "

"had barely budged "

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