まだ食べなかった vs まだ食べていない


まだ食べなかった vs まだ食べていない まだ食べていない = "still haven't eaten" まだ食べなかった confuses mean.
"still did not eat". Is this construction ever used? If so, can some provide
an example usage, and like what it means in English?




First of all, まだ食べていない describes a current state while まだ食べなかった is about a
past event.

For example:

> 何度も勧めたが、彼はまだ食べなかった。

This まだ means “still” in the sense of “nevertheless.” It doesn’t necessarily
imply that he ate later. He refused to eat at a particular point of time in
the past.

It could also be used to describe a past habitual state, in practice
interchangeably with まだ食べていなかった.

> 日本に来た当時は納豆をまだ食べなかった。

This まだ means “not yet.” It does imply that this person got into the habit of
eating nattō later.

