Please explain had had,had and have had,have

Question

Hello,

I am new here and hoping to get some help. Could you please explain me the difference between the following sentences.

I had a car
I had had a car

i have gone to office
i have had gone to office

AND also..

I left him
i had left him

Regards,
Faraz

Swollib · Accepted Answer

Hi there

I had had a car does not make sense, and you would use the first example. With the second set of sentences, you would use the first example also, as the second one does not make sense.

However, in the third of sentences, both sentences are acceptable, although they have different meanings.

"I had left him" means that you left him, but now you are back with him.

to help it make more sense, think about it like this:

"I disposed of the garbage"
and
"I had disposed of the garbage, but it came back"

I hope it makes more sense now

Leon

HMLithman · Answer

SwollibHi there

I had had a car does not make sense, and you would use the first example. With the second set of sentences, you would use the first example also, as the second one does not make sense.

However, in the third of sentences, both sentences are acceptable, although they have different meanings.

"I had left him" means that you left him, but now you are back with him.

to help it make more sense, think about it like this:

"I disposed of the garbage"
and
"I had disposed of the garbage, but it came back"

I hope it makes more sense now

Leon

What happens to : I had a dream last night? and I had few girlfriends/boyfriends? (which is meant to be in the past)

And is this correct? : I had checked the essay after I have written it.

Watchayakan · Answer

The second one should be "I have had..." and the last can just be "I checked the essay after I wrote it."

BarbaraPA · Answer

I had a car
I had had a car

Both of these are okay, but you are using "had" in the sense of "owned.

I owned a car is the same as I had a car.

I had owned a car is the same as I had had a car. For example, At that time, I had had a car for such a short time that I was still terrified that I'd get a scratch on it. (Or, By then, I had had the car for so long that I didn't care if it fell apart in the parking lot.) You use it to refer to a time in the past, when the action (obtaining the car) was also in the past.)

Part of the trouble is that "have" serves so many different fuctions. It's used in the present perfect and the past perfect, but it also means "owned" as above (although it might be better to say "something in your posession," even if you don't own it); it means "compelled to" - You have to come in and wash your hands for dinner now!; it means to experience something, as in have a fight or have a cold. So "had had" occurs a lot when one of the other meanins of "to have" is being used.

CalifJim · Answer

The three parts of the verb to go: 1 go, 2 went, 3 gone.
The three parts of the verb to leave: 1 leave, 2 left, 3 left.
The three parts of the verb to have: 1 have, 2 had, 3 had.
The three parts of the verb to own: 1 own, 2 owned, 3 owned.

I 1 go to the office.
I 2 went to the office.
I 1 have 3 gone to the office.
I 2 had 3 gone to the office.

I 1 leave him.
I 2 left him.
I 1 have 3 left him.
I 2 had 3 left him.

I 1 have a car. = I 1 own a car.
I 2 had a car. = I 2 owned a car.
I 1 have 3 had a car = I 1 have 3 owned a car.
I 2 had 3 had a car = I 2 had 3 owned a car.

You need to use one of these:
Form 1 (any verb) [for a present situation or habit]
or Form 2 (any verb) [for a past situation or event]
or Form 1 of "have" (have) with Form 3 (any verb) [for a present state resulting from a past situation or event]
or Form 2 of "have" (had) with Form 3 (any verb) [for a past state resulting from a situation or event even farther in the past]

I have had gone to the office is wrong. It's Form 1 of "have" (have) with Form 3 of "have" (had) with Form 3 of "go" (gone). Two uses of Form 3 -- not correct.

CJ

Please explain had had,had and have had,have

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