Have/Had/Have not/Had not (action and experience)

Question

HelloI know this question has been answered many times, but I am struggling to fully understand how to use have had or had had.  I wrote a few examples below for my reference to understand how to use auxiliary verbs if we are talking about experience vs action. Please explain by using my examples or by creating your owns, and please advise if my examples are correct or not. Thanks you Talking about experience1) I have a lot of cars &lt;&lt;&lt; Talking about now, this moment that I have a lot of cars2) I have had a lot of cars3) I had a lot of carsPlease explain the difference between 2 and 3Talking about an action1) I have completed your task &lt;&lt;&lt; Talking about a task that was completed in the past but it has some sort of affect/consequences in present2) I completed your task &lt;&lt;&lt; Task completed in the past 3) I have had completed your task &lt;&lt;&lt; I believe this is wrong? Negative experience 1) I've called him just now but I have not had a response from him 2) I've called him just now but I had no response from him3) I've called him just now but I had had no responses from himPlease explain the above 3

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Experience examples:

The difference between 2 and 3 is not easy to explain. In 2, the present perfect, the time of the ownership can't be pinned down easily. In 3, the past tense, the time of ownership is easier to pin down. Some examples of usage:

I've had a lot of cars. A corvette, a BMW, a Porsche, a Buick, a VW. (The time of ownership of each vehicle is not easy to pin down.)

When I was in college, I lived at home and we had a big garage and lots of parking space for cars. I had a lot of cars back then. (Here the time of ownership is easier to pin down: the years when he was in college.)

Action examples:

3 is ungrammatical. 1 is pres. perf. and denotes action completed recently in present time, say, within the day. But again, the time of completion is not easy to pin down in the pres. perf.:

I've completed your task. (The task was completed recently, but exactly when, is not easy to pin down.)

2 is past tense. The time of completion here should be easier to pin down:

I completed your task. (When the task was completed should be fairly easy to pin down.)

Negative experience examples:

1. This is ungrammatical. You cannot pair a specific time, like "just now," with the pres. perf. You'd have to say this as: I called him, but have not had a response from him. The meaning is: you called him at some time in the past, but a response in present time has not occurred. If the sentence was: I called him, and have had a response from him., this would mean that you called him at some time in the past, and a response was received recently, in present time. But again, with the pres. perf. a specific time is not easy to pin down.

2. The first part is ungrammatical. You can't pair the pres. perf. with a specific time, "just now." It would have to be: I called him, but I've had no response. The meaning is that you called him a some time in the past and a response has not occurred as of the present time. The sentence, "I called him, but had no response.", has a different sense. Here the action is all in the past. You called him at some time in the past, and you received no response when you did - all this occurred in the past.

3. The first part is ungrammatical, as in 1 and 2. The sentence would have to be: I called him but had had no response from him by the next day. This sentence denotes action all in the past. You called him at some time in the past, and no response was received by the next day. The past perfect, had had, denotes action completed by a certain time in the past. The past perfect differs from the pres. perf. in this way: the pres. perf. cannot be used with a specific time, while the past perf. must be used with a specific time.

CalifJim · Answer

ZybastekTalking about experience1) I have a lot of cars <<< Talking about now, this moment that I have a lot of cars2) I have had a lot of cars3) I had a lot of carsPlease explain the difference between 2 and 3

2) I have had a lot of cars (counting all I have had throughout my life until now).
3) I had a lot of cars (at that time in the past, e.g., last June).

Zybastek3) I have had completed your task <<< I believe this is wrong?

Yes, it is wrong.

I have; I had; I have had; I had had.

Zybastek1) I've called him just now, but I have not had a response from him

... have not had a response from him (so far, but I'm still waiting).

Zybastek2) I've called him just now, but I had no response from him

Not a likely sentence. It doesn't sound right to say "just now" (present), and then "had no response" (in the past). The response is after you call him, not in the past.

Zybastek3) I've called him just now but I had had no responses from him

Not likely. 'had had' is the past perfect. This is even farther in the past than the simple past, so this one is even worse than 2). The response you are waiting for cannot be a long time in the past. If the response were in the past, you would not be waiting for it.

CJ

Have/Had/Have not/Had not (action and experience)

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