Have Seen vs. Saw

Attribute	Have Seen	Saw
Tense	Present Perfect	Past Simple
Formality	More formal	Less formal
Usage	Common in spoken and written English	Common in spoken English
Verb	Have + Past Participle	Past Simple form of the verb

Definition

Have seen and saw are both verb phrases that are used to indicate that someone has witnessed or observed something in the past. However, they are used in different contexts and have slightly different meanings.

Usage

The phrase "have seen" is used in present perfect tense, indicating that the action of seeing occurred at an unspecified time in the past. For example, "I have seen that movie before." On the other hand, "saw" is used in simple past tense, indicating that the action of seeing occurred at a specific time in the past. For example, "I saw that movie last night."

Form

The form of "have seen" consists of the auxiliary verb "have" followed by the past participle "seen." This structure is used to form the present perfect tense in English. On the other hand, "saw" is the simple past form of the verb "see." It does not require an auxiliary verb and is used to indicate an action that took place in the past.

Frequency

While both "have seen" and "saw" are commonly used in everyday speech, "have seen" is more frequently used in formal writing and academic contexts. This is because the present perfect tense is often preferred in these contexts for indicating actions that have relevance to the present moment. On the other hand, "saw" is more commonly used in informal speech and storytelling.

Clarity

Using "have seen" can sometimes add clarity to a sentence by indicating that the action of seeing has some relevance to the present moment. For example, "I have seen that movie before, so I know how it ends." This sentence makes it clear that the speaker's past experience of seeing the movie is relevant to their current knowledge. On the other hand, using "saw" can sometimes lead to ambiguity if the timeframe of the action is not specified. For example, "I saw that movie" could refer to a recent viewing or a viewing that took place years ago.

Emphasis

Using "have seen" can sometimes place more emphasis on the act of seeing itself rather than the specific time when it occurred. This can be useful when the focus is on the experience of seeing rather than the timing. For example, "I have seen many beautiful sunsets in my life." On the other hand, using "saw" can place more emphasis on the specific time when the action occurred. For example, "I saw a shooting star last night."