Learn English – “I just see” or “I just saw”? (Or neither?)

tense

What’s the big difference between these two?

The context is that I saw something, let say a minute ago.

I don’t know if the combination of “just” and “saw” works, because “just” means that the thing I saw was seen a minute ago and “saw” means that the action is completely finished.

If, in this context, “just saw” is good, then in which context can we use “just see”?

Best Answer

See is a present tense. Saw is a past tense.

That's one difference between the two.

Right now, I just see the boat.

Yesterday, I just saw the boat.

However, "I just saw the boat" has two meanings depending on the context.

  1. Yesterday, I saw only the boat, not the car or airplane. When emphasis is on 'boat'.
  2. I saw the boat only two minutes ago. When emphasis is on 'just'.