Have or had?

TextRanch: The best way to perfect your writing.

Discover why 1,062,726 users count on TextRanch to get their English corrected!

One of our experts will correct your English.

100% Human-Powered Editing!

Have

The word 'have' is correct when used in present perfect tense to indicate actions that started in the past and continue into the present.

Learn More [+]

Use 'have' when you are talking about actions that started in the past and continue into the present, such as 'I have finished my homework.'

Examples:

I have visited Paris before.
She has already eaten lunch.
They have lived in this city for five years.

Alternatives:

I have been to Paris before.
She has eaten lunch already.
They have been living in this city for five years.

had

The word 'had' is correct when used in past perfect tense to indicate actions that were completed before a certain point in the past.

Learn More [+]

Use 'had' when you are talking about actions that were completed before a specific time in the past, such as 'She had already left when I arrived.'

Examples:

He had finished his work before the deadline.
She had never been to that restaurant before.
They had already left when we got there.

Alternatives:

He had completed his work before the deadline.
She had not visited that restaurant before.
They had left already when we arrived.

The choice between 'have' and 'had' depends on the context and tense of the sentence. 'Have' is used in present perfect tense, while 'had' is used in past perfect tense. Both are correct, but they are used in different contexts.

Last updated: March 22, 2024

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023