Has, Have, Had
 

Hi, I need help on the phrases below. I am confused regarding which of these phrases are correct and wrong? And when is the right time to use "had", "has had" and "have had"?

I had already eaten.

I have already eaten.


He has gone for his dinner.

He went for his dinner.


She had already eaten.

She has already eaten.

She has had her dinner already.

She had her dinner already.


He has gone home.

He had gone home.

He has already gone home.

He had already gone home.

He already went home.

He had already left for his home.

All those sentences are correct, but with very subtle differences in meaning. The only one I would 'correct' would probably be the very last, which I personally would say "He has already gone home". Dogs' is also correct, but to me hers sounds a little formal, but what sounds natural in speech varies from region to region . . .

Anyway, with 'had' you are describing an action that occured in the past and has little relevance to the present, so for example 'I had already eaten' means at that moment in the past you already ate when another action occured. When you say 'I have already eaten' the 'have' indicates that the action still has an affect on the present, so you ate in the past but that state of having eaten still affects the present.

Sorry, it's very hard to explain, so perhaps someone else can clear up what I mean a little better.

Basically something like "I had already eaten" might be used in a situation discussing the past, such as "Why didn't you eat your dinner?" and the reply "I had already eaten". Whereas 'I have already eaten' might be used in discussion about the present, so 'Why aren't you eating?' and the reply 'I have already eaten'.

Hope that helps and I haven't made it more confusing!

Edit: 'has' works exactly the same as 'have' does, but you use 'has' in reference to talking about someone else's actions, such as "she has", and 'have' in relation to one's own actions, such as 'I have'.

They're all correct, they're just used in different situations. You need to review past tenses, I think. It's hard to explain without visual time lines.

'I had already eaten' is a statement of a past action that happened prior to a more recent past action. For example; I had already eaten by the time the doctor arrived and now I have to wait 6 hours to take my medicine.

'I have already eaten' is a statement of a past action in relation to the present. "I want to eat pizza but i've already eaten eight bags of chips."

With: He has gone for his dinner vs He went for his dinner; it's just that 'has' is working as an auxiliary verb for 'gone' and 'he went' is unfinished. It should ideally follow on 'he went for his dinner half an hour ago', whereas 'he has gone' can stand as it is.

With, She has already eaten vs She has had her dinner already: there's not a huge difference in meaning. We use 'has had' with nouns (had being the auxiliary), and 'has' by itself is followed by the past participle 'eaten'. So you can say "She has already read" but not "She has had read"

She had her dinner already. <- is a little colloquial, and more American English than British English. because of the use of 'already' here, so in some books may be considered poor grammar.

with the 'he/gone/home' sentences, the difference is again the situation they are used in. it's the same as for 'I/already/eaten' as i explained above, just moved into the 3rd person.

He already went home is different from the 'gone' sentences because it's not narrative, which 'gone' is.

Compare:

Bill had rushed into the office at the last minute, the vital evidence clasped in his hand only to find that Detective Smith had already gone home. (Correct)

Bill had rushed into the office at the last minute, the vital evidence clasped in his hand only to find that Detective Smith had already went home. (incorrect)

Bill had rushed into the office at the last minute, the vital evidence clasped in his hand only to find that Detective Smith wasn't there. "He already went home?" he cried, to the empty office. (Correct)

Thanks for the detailed explanations, dogsbody70, RobinMask and Columbine.

Just to say that I was in a hurry when I wrote a reply so was not very thorough. I rushed my reply.

columbine wrote:


Bill had rushed into the office at the last minute, the vital evidence clasped in his hand only to find that Detective Smith wasn't there. "He already went home?" he cried, to the empty office. (Correct)


Would you really say that? Is this An Americanism? ( Has he already gone home?) surely is more natural. Or (has he left already?)

(My friend went home early because he was too tired to work). I went to work early this morning.) He went to catch the early bus but arrived too late. He missed it as it Had to keep strictly to its timetable, so my friend had to wait for the next bus. He was not very happy as it would mean he would be late for work. When he arrived late for work, his boss questioned him, "Why are you so late today?" " I am very sorry sir, but I missed my bus and Had to wait for the next one." Well You should get up earlier, don't be late again or you will have to leave." When he went home that evening he felt so sad. His wife told him not to worry, she knew what a hard worker he was. "I shall have to set the alarm earlier in the future then you should not miss your bus again." It has been a lesson to me," he replied to his wife. He never did miss his bus again, so still works hard working for the same company he has been with for many years. His wife HAS set the alarm ten minutes earlier than before.

My point was that 'already went' is -spoken- English, which by dint is more casual and more flexible in the rules, just like technically in written English it should always be 'cannot' not 'can't'. It's perhaps used more in American English than British English, but this doesn't make it grammatically incorrect.

Also I, amongst what I'm sure are plenty of younger people, use both. :)

I will say the very same thing like maxful said. Thanks a lot to dogsbody70, RobinMask and Columbine. It really helpfull.

おかしい英語ですみません、今英語も日本語も勉強して います。。