We talked before vs We have talked before

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'We talked before' is simple past tense, indicating a conversation that happened at a specific time in the past. 'We have talked before' is present perfect tense, indicating a conversation that occurred at an unspecified time before now.

Last updated: April 03, 2024 • 2993 views

We talked before

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to refer to a conversation that happened at a specific time in the past.

Use 'we talked before' when referring to a conversation that occurred at a specific time in the past.

Examples:

We talked before the meeting yesterday.
I remember we talked before about this issue.

Show examples from the web [+]

We talked before you got up.
We talked before, by accident.
We talked before about diesel traffic.
Emma, we talked before about how a delusion -
Remember when we talked before about mindfulness meditation? (Note: in the beginning of Crochet Saved My Life) A 2009 Psychology Today article by Peter Strong explains how mindfulness can be used with attention to color to overcome depression.
So... when we talked before about the change you experienced, you said that it was sudden.
Of other supplements, such as vitamin B2 (important for the hydroxylase enzymes that mark the stages of activation of vitamin D), omega 3, zinc, selenium, vitamin K2, folic acid etc. we talked before.
We talked before it happened.
You say we talked before.
You said we talked before.
Remember we talked before?

Alternatives:

We had a conversation before.
We chatted earlier.
We discussed this previously.

We have talked before

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to refer to a conversation that occurred at an unspecified time before now.

Use 'we have talked before' when referring to a conversation that happened at an unspecified time before the present moment.

Examples:

We have talked before about this topic.
I think we have talked before, but I can't remember when.

Show examples from the web [+]

We have talked before about the nature of this manipulation and so we need not discuss it here. Again, we refer you to the archives if you are so interested.
We should have talked before you said no.
<Class> As we have talked about before, the Undernet Channel Service maintain a server exclusively for management of a channel.
I thought we would have talked about it before we went in there.
I kind of wish we could have talked this through before you quit.
It's not like we haven't talked about it before, Bones.
Don't act like we haven't talked about this before.
Giordino talked before I killed him.
We talked before you got up.
We talked before, by accident.
We talked before about diesel traffic.
It's not like you've never talked before.
I thought you guys talked before.
I talked before of constitutionalisation and, personally, I believe in a federal perspective.
On a different note, I have talked before, about the different standards for the rich and poor in the legal system.
I talked before about the use of devices to dramatically change the way we treat disease.
We've talked before about the ideal person to head an inquiry.
Emma, we talked before about how a delusion -
Why talk now if you haven't talked before?
She and I have, like, talked before, you know.

Alternatives:

We have had a conversation before.
We have discussed this previously.
We have chatted about this before.

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