Last night we (have/had) some guys come in here and ransack the place

Question

"Last night we (have/had) some guys come in here and ransack the place."Teachers, please tell me which is correct, have or had?

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

Last night
is a definite moment in the past, thus
had.

You should try a search at Yahoo with:
"Last night we had"
and separately with
"Last night we have had"
and see how many hits you're scoring with each
(quotation marks are important!)

Bamtori · Answer

Thanks for your reply, Marius. With "last night" it is definately "had". Then how about leave out "last night" in the sentence. Which should I use, "we (have/had) some guys come in here and ransack the place."?

Marius Hancu · Answer

BamtoriThen how about leave out "last night" in the sentence. Which should I use, "we (have/had) some guys come in here and ransack the place."?

It would depend on the context, esp distance in time and separation from present. I'd say:

"We've recently/just had some guys come in here and ransack the place."
(present perfect, because of the close link with the present)

"Some time ago, we had some guys come in here and ransack the place."
(past tense, because of the detachment of that period from the present)

"some time ago we've had"
is much less frequent at Yahoo than
"some time ago we had"
you should try such searches yourself.

But sometimes, the distinction is difficult to make.

Anonymous · Answer

BamtoriThanks for your reply, Marius. With "last night" it is definately "had". Then how about leave out "last night" in the sentence. Which should I use, "we (have/had) some guys come in here and ransack the place."?

When will this ransacking take place? Will it be in the future? From your construction, I think that it is clear to all that this was an event that occurred in the past. Why would you even consider using a present tense construction for what is clearly a past tense event?

Perhaps your confusion comes from the fact that the verb have is commonly used to to create past perfect constructions. This is not such a construction, as in such case the verb have would be a helping verb.

As it is, you seem to be trying to say: we have guys come. Have does not serve as a helping verb in the past perfect construction in this manner. Have does not serve as a past tense marker. Have does not fit at all. How do you think that have can serve a useful function in this sentence?

Bamtori · Answer

Thank you so much for your kind explanation, Marius.

I got confused about the tense of "have" in that sentence after seeing this: I have Japanese women pinch my ***.

I didn't see the entire paragraph,though: " In Japan they touch me. I have Japanese women pinch my ***."

This is from Karl Lagerfeld's interview and it was after he'd been to Japan. So I thought that "have" might show the past time.

CalifJim · Answer

When you have someone do something, you arrange for them to do it.
If this arrangement happens generally, always, as a rule, habitually, as a matter of normal practice, then the simple present tense is used.

I [generally / always / typically / usually / normally] have them do this.

When you had someone do something, you arranged (once in the past) for them to do it (and they did it). The simple past is used.

[At that time / Last night / Last month / This past Thursday / Before you arrived] I had them do this.

CJ

Last night we (have/had) some guys come in here and ransack the place

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions