“Has had” or “had had”?

A while ago, MiszSensei, an English lecturer from KPTM – Kolej Poly-Tech MARA, asked me the above question, which is on the perfect tenses. I understand her situation because my own students used to be puzzled by this as well

I’d like to refer her to “Wren & Martin’s High School English Grammar and Composition”* (an oldie but goodie which I’d used in my English classes for grammar discussion).

“Has had” is in the Present Perfect Tense, which is used:

1. To indicate completed activities in the immediate past e.g.:

- He has just gone out.

- It has just struck ten.

2. To express past actions whose time is not given and not definite; e.g.:

- Have you read ‘Gulliver’s Travels’?

- Mr. Hari has been to Japan (Note: We are not informed of the exact date he visited the country.)

3. To describe past events when we think more of their effect in the present than of the action itself e.g.:

- I have cut my finger (and it is bleeding now.)

- I have finished my work (= now I am free).

4. To denote an action beginning at some time inthe past and continuing up to the present moment, e.g.:

- I have known him for a long time.

- We have lived here for ten years.

The examples above from Wren & Martin clearly explain the use of the Present Perfect Tense. Students need to remember that the clause “has had” is made up of 2 verbs, similar to the examples above:

- She has had her breakfast.

- I have had enough of your nonsense!

- We have had too many durians.

“Had had” is in the Past Perfect Tense, which is used in these 2 situations:

1. To describe an action completed before a certain moment in the past or

2. If two actions happened in the past, it may be necessary to show which action happened earlier than the other.

For example:

- I met him in New Delhi in 1970. I had seen him last five years before.

- When I reached the station, the train had started.

- I had written the letter before he arrived.

Here are some examples of “had had” in use from the BBC World Service | Learn English site:

- After he’d had a good night’s sleep, he felt much better.

- She sacked him before he had had a chance to explain his behaviour.

- By the time he was twenty he’d already had four different jobs.

- If I hadn’t had a good education, I would never have got this job.

- If she had had children later in life, she would have been a better mother.

- If I’d had another ten minutes, I would’ve finished the examination paper.

I apologize for the late response and hope that you will still find this useful!