Can I use "must've had"?
I'm writing a book, and the last time I edited/reread to get a feel again, I noticed I wrote "Ava must’ve had handed me her blanket again." To me this is the natural way to speak it, however this doesn't seem grammatically correct since must've is "must have" which had is the past tense of have. So how should I write this? Or is it ok to write like this?
Top answer
"must've" is common in speech, but as a written contraction it is in my opinion less standard than, for example, "I've" or "we've". I would avoid "must've" unless it is in directly quoted dialogue and/or unless you deliberately want to impart a very casual or chatty feel.
- "must've" is common in speech, but as a written contraction it is in my opinion less standard than, for example, "I've" or "we've".
- I would avoid "must've" unless it is in directly quoted dialogue and/or unless you deliberately want to impart a very casual or chatty feel.
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"must've" is common in speech, but as a written contraction it is in my opinion less standard than, for example, "I've" or "we've". I would avoid "must've" unless it is in directly quoted dialogue and/or unless you deliberately want to impart a very casual or chatty feel.
0Ava must have had handed me her blanket again. This is incorrect.
Ava must have handed me her blanket again. This is correct. You need to review how to form the modal Perfect tenses in your grammar book.
Clive
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