HAVE HAD DIFFERENCE

Had or Have? What is the difference in English grammar?

Grammar / By

“Have” is the present simple form and “Had” is the past simple form of the verb “to have”.

I have a meeting today.

I had a meeting yesterday.

The verb “to have” means possession and is also used as an auxiliary verb in perfect(present and future) tenses in English.

Had

Had is the past simple form of the verb “to have”.

I had

You had 

He had

She had

It had

We had 

They had 

We use the past simple for completed actions and times. You can read more about the past simple here.

Have

Have is the present simple form of the verb “to have” for every subject except the third person singular(he/she/it).

I have

You have 

He has

She has

It has

We have 

They have 

We use the present simple for habits and things that are generally true. You can read more about the present simple here.

Have had

“Have had” is the present perfect form of the verb to have for every subject except the third person singular(he/she/it).

I have had

You have had

He has had

She has had

It has had

We have had

They have had

We use the present perfect tense for experiences and things that started in the past and continue into the present. 

Had had

We use “had had” for the past perfect tense with the verb to “have”

You can read all about “had had” here.

I had had 

You had had

He had had

She had had

It had had

We had had

They had had

When to use had in a sentence

We use had for past simple, past perfect and present perfect sentences.

I had a bad day yesterday.

I had been living there for one year before the tsunami.

I have had this watch for 5 years.

When to use have in a sentence

We use “have” for the present simple and perfect sentences.

I have 6 cats.

I have been here for a long time.

I will have been here for 6 years next month.

Conor
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