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grammar - What is the difference between "have had" and "had"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Main Post: grammar - What is the difference between "have had" and "had"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
when to use had? whats the difference between using had and not using it and just saying when I spoke?
Main Post: when to use had? whats the difference between using had and not using it and just saying when I spoke?
Top Comment: “Had” is used as an auxiliary verb to mark the past perfect tense. This is typically used in conjunction with simple past to convey that something happened even further in the past. Here’s an example: “I visited John yesterday. He said he needed to fix his car.” This example uses the simple past, and suggests that, while you were visiting, John told you that he needed to fix his car. “I visited John yesterday. He HAD said that he needed to fix his car.” This example uses past perfect, and suggests that John told you that he needed to fix his car at some time further in the past, before you went over to visit.
The difference between "had" and "had had"?
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Example:
1 We had power
2 We had had power
Top Comment: I'm not a grammar expert, but here is how I understand the difference between "had" and "had had". "We had power" implies that currently, you do not have power. It emphasizes a state which has ended. Or, in other words, it represents a change (from having power in the past to not having power now). "We had had power" locates the time of that change of state (from having to not having power) in the past. Emphasizing a state (having had power) which occurred some time ago. For another example with some context, you could say "I had breakfast." which would generally indicate that you recently ate breakfast and so you aren't hungry. Whereas, if you say "I had had breakfast" you could be telling a story about what you were doing on a particular day in the past and giving additional context (that on that day in the past you had eaten breakfast). This is how I understand the difference between had and had had. :)
The use of "had had."
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Does the use of writing had twice when describing a character doing something previously serve as a small pet peeve for anyone else? This isn't a hated for writers who do use it, of course. Everyone's writing style is different, but using "had had" has just always bothered me slightly. I know it's not technically grammatically incorrect, but it's still always....felt off in my mind. I feel like only using had once would be satisfactory, or wording the sentence differently to get across the same point. Does anyone here use "had had" in their writings? If so, may I ask why? And if you don't, what are some satisfactory alternatives to "had had"?
Top Comment: The thoughts he had had had had no effect on his actions.
I’m trying to understand the usage of the word “had”
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I’m reading a book and there was a flashback that read like this:
“Right away, I had known she wasn’t a vampire. Ilana had always been so brightly, vividly human. I had seen it from that very first moment, and it was what had transfixed me. I had shied away into the shadows, and she scoffed.”
I feel like that is just wayyy too many hads in such a small set of words. Is this the correct way of doing it? I’ve never come across this in all my reading and now I need to know the rules.
Top Comment: This is the past perfect. The book is probably in the past generally and the use of the past perfect here communicates that these experiences occurred prior to the main events.
"Had had" and "that that": is there any reason not to use just "had" and "that"?
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For example, is there any difference in meaning between "He had had a rough day" vs "He had a rough day", and "They believed that that was a lie" vs "They believed that was a lie"?
Top Comment: IIRC from high school grammar: "He had had a bad day" is past-perfect tense "He had a bad day" is simple past-tense.
Had vs Had Had
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What's the difference between had and had had.
Top Comment: Had is simple past, and had had is past perfect. So, for example, before I had surgery, I had had several consultations with the doctor. Had had places the consultations further back in time than the surgery.
When to use "had had" and is it common to use it ? And is it academic thing only ? And not common in the street ?
Main Post: When to use "had had" and is it common to use it ? And is it academic thing only ? And not common in the street ?
Top Comment: It's common and not an "academic" tense. You use it to describe something that occured in the past before something else. For example, "I had had breakfast before I started on my trip to the countryside." This tense is called the past perfect or the pluperfect. It's used all the time. In your question, "had had" is the past perfect of the verb 'to have."
Reddit - The heart of the internet
Main Post: Reddit - The heart of the internet
Has or had?
Main Post: Has or had?
Top Comment:
Please don't use the likes of ChatGPT for factual answers, there is very little reason to expect it to be at all reliable.