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I never saw her before vs I had never seen her before

Both expressions are correct, but they are used in different contexts. "I never saw her before" uses the simple past tense to express that the speaker did not see someone at a specific point in the past. "I had never seen her before" uses the past perfect tense to indicate that the lack of seeing her occurred before another past event. The best choice depends on the context and the specific time relationship being expressed.
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Explained by Camille
Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: August 23, 2024 • 23671 views

I never saw her before

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is used in the simple past tense to express that the speaker did not see someone at a specific point in the past.

Examples:

  • I never saw her before yesterday.
  • He never saw the movie before last night.
  • Mar 24, 2023 ... Is it okay to ask a girl out if I never saw her before and she never saw me before? At my college I see some very cute girls. If I see a ...
  • Jan 21, 2022 ... On my way to the donkeysanctuary I saw this young female dog with big breasts. Stopped because I never saw her before. She is full of ticks.
  • Aug 6, 2020 ... She's adorable, I never saw her before. What personality type is she?
  • Sep 15, 2018 ... I never saw her before but assumed she was just a friend of someone and I would never see her again. I remember seeing her a few times at ...
  • Jun 26, 2004 ... ... I never saw her before I felt like I knew her pretty well. So when we actually did meet it was kinda like a lil reunion...It was like we ...
  • Oct 26, 2012 ... But I never saw her before she left Marion. My last image of her was of her sitting in front of the engine house, trailing a light haze of ...
  • I never saw her before. My Lady Sandwich, my Lady Jemimah, Mrs. Browne, Mrs. Grace, and Mary and the page, my lady's servants and myself, all went into the ...
  • As she turned around she glared at me with her all dark black eyes. 'Who is she?' I questioned myself as I never saw her before. "Ahh ~. So I see human girl is ...
  • Aug 14, 2008 ... I never saw her before .... where's she gone?" I remember seeing this a lot when I used to play this years ago, and I see no mention of it ...
  • “If that woman you are holding now by the arm,” said the evangelist, “is your wife, I can truthfully say that I never saw her before, and that I never heard ...

Alternatives:

  • I didn't see her before.
  • I have never seen her before.

I had never seen her before

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is used in the past perfect tense to indicate that the lack of seeing her occurred before another past event.

Examples:

  • I had never seen her before she moved in next door.
  • She had never seen such a beautiful sunset before.
  • Sep 13, 2016 ... "I had never seen her before, but I knew she was The Mom. She was walking down the sidewalk, wrapped in a blanket and looking completely ...
  • Although / though / even though/ in spite of / despite 1 Although I had never seen her before, I recognised her from a photograph. She wasn't wearing a coat ...
  • May 17, 2016 ... I had never seen her before and now I saw her twice in 10 days. It had to be fate. I went up to her and asked with youthful exuberance, “Hey ...
  • Aug 10, 2009 ... I had never seen her before. Tears oozed down my face, over my bruised lips, pooling on the handset. "It's OK," said the nice lady on the ...
  • Again, cringe to type out) But I had never SEEN her before. This is a fully grown woman I'm talking about here. I'm a measly 10th grader, but this, this is ...
  • I had never seen her before in my life, what was I to say? This was years ago, I couldn't believe it. Was it real? What was I to say? Well, I said yes, and ...
  • Mar 23, 2015 ... Shortly following this weaning process, it became very clear that she was developing a deepened depression – a place I had never seen her before ...
  • Jul 22, 2024 ... So I've now watched Kristina's episodes twice through, and the second time, I kept thinking that I had never seen her before but that I ...
  • I had never seen her before and had figured on meeting the female version of Stephen King. Although Angel's stories aren't full of monsters, they take a ...
  • Sep 9, 2020 ... ... I had never seen her before, and havent seen her again in almost a week despite checking the same area); this time keeping a small/light ...

Alternatives:

  • I had not seen her before.
  • I had never seen her until that day.

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