When to use have had, had had or has had? Following are the examples:
I have had a lot of homework this week.
I had a lot of homework.
Are these examples make sense?
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
It depends on the context.
"Had had" is the past perfect tense and is used in very select situations. It is used when you are talking about the past but want to refer to an even earlier time in the past. For example:
She made me leave the party before I had had a chance to say goodbye to everyone.
"Have had" is the present perfect tense and is used to talk about an event that happened at an unspecified time in the past. For example:
I have had many close calls with law enforcement.
"Has had" is also the present perfect tense. The only difference lies in what nouns or pronouns it is coupled with. In the case of "has had", we use it with the pronouns "he, she and it" or non-plural nouns. For example:
He has had five surgeries to correct his broken leg.
The country has had bad relations with the United States for years.
To clarify, "Have had" is used with the pronouns "I, you, they, we" and plural nouns.
