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The title says it all, what's the difference between 見てない and 見たことがない?

Lately, I've seen japanese people using 見てない to express that they have never seen something, eg:

この映画は見てない。

But I thought that 見てない would be used in the following fashion:

今、映画を見てなくて、晩ご飯を食べてるよ。

And how different it is from:

この映画を見たことがない。

is the usage of 見てない a set phrase or something?

Felipe Chaves de Oliveira
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1 Answers1

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見たことがない means "Someone has never seen something ever."

見てない is 見ていない that is omitted い. ～している has two meanings. One is progressive form and the other is result state. So この映画は見てない means "I haven't watched this movie.", it's the later usage. 見てない in 今、映画を見てなくて、晩ご飯を食べてるよ is the former usage.

For example, you can say 彼をまだ今日見てない、but 彼をまだ今日見たことがない would be unnatural.

Yuuichi Tam
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  • あっ、わかりやすい！ありがとうおざいます！ – Felipe Chaves de Oliveira Aug 31 '17 at 18:38
  • @Yuuichi Tam According to https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%A6%E3%82%8B the てる and てない are just 'colloquial' forms. It is not mentioned that they 'reduce the nuance of "ever". Could you please convince me about the last part of your answer? – raruna Jul 29 '20 at 15:04
  • @raruna I wrote this answer three years ago and I read again it. I have the same opinion as you. – Yuuichi Tam Jul 29 '20 at 15:23
  • @YuuichiTam You mean you agree that てる and てない are just 'colloquial'? Then shall we please edit your answer to clarify that the last part of your answer is not confirmed 100%? – raruna Jul 29 '20 at 17:37
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    @raruna I agree with the part that 見てない doesn't have the meaning of reducing the nuance of "ever". – Yuuichi Tam Jul 29 '20 at 17:50
  • @YuuichiTam if i consider 見て an adverb in 見てない, does a pattern like adverbない exist in Japanese? If yes, could u explain how does it work? – raruna Jul 29 '20 at 18:07
  • @raruna 見て is not an adverb but a 未然形(nai form) of 見ている. – Yuuichi Tam Jul 29 '20 at 18:29
  • @YuuichiTam In conclusion, in your Answer for FelipeOliveira Question, does 見てない=見ていない absolutely? or is there something more to be said? – raruna Jul 29 '20 at 18:50
  • @raruna I think so. – Yuuichi Tam Jul 29 '20 at 18:59
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    @FelipeOliveira Could you please make useful additions to this post since you have now more knowledge than 3 years ago? – raruna Jul 29 '20 at 19:41