The phrase "had had" is a grammatically correct construction in English. It is the past perfect tense of the verb "to have," and it is used to describe an event that happened before another event in the past.
The first "had" is the auxiliary or helping verb used to form the past perfect tense, and the second "had" is the past participle of the main verb, "to have".
How it works
This double past-tense structure is necessary when discussing two events that both occurred in the past. It clearly establishes which event happened first.
Example 1
- Incorrect: I was tired because I had a busy week. (This implies the busy week and the tiredness happened at the same time).
- Correct: I was tired because I had had a busy week. (The busy week finished before the point in the past when you became tired).
Example 2
- Incorrect: I went to the store, but she already went.
- Correct: I went to the store, but she had already had dinner. (Her dinner was finished before you left for the store).
The structure is also commonly used in reported speech to describe a past event from the perspective of another past moment.
Examples in context
- Possession: "She couldn't find her book because she had had it last night, but couldn't remember where she'd put it".
- Experience: "Before the exam, he had had plenty of time to study, but he procrastinated".
- Conditional sentences: "If I had had another ten minutes, I would have finished the test".
- In a narrative: "The boy was no longer scared of dogs. He had had a terrifying experience with one as a child, but years of training had finally helped him overcome his fear."
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