It has happened before vs It had happened before

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'It has happened before' is used to talk about something that occurred at an unspecified time in the past, with a connection to the present. 'It had happened before' is used to refer to an event that took place before another past event. The choice between 'has' and 'had' depends on the timeline of the events being discussed.

Last updated: April 10, 2024 • 1114 views

It has happened before

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is used to refer to something that occurred at an unspecified time in the past, with a connection to the present.

Examples:

It has happened before, so we need to be prepared this time.
I can't believe it has happened before in this exact same way.

Show examples from the web [+]

Hi, I have a questions, Is this sentence grammatically wrong? "It has happened before"... or is it better to say "It had happened before"...
May 4, 2020 ... It has happened before. By Rob Picheta, CNN. Updated 3:33 AM EDT, Mon May 4, ...
Oct 29, 2021 ... Outer Banks wild horse dies after drinking contaminated water. It has happened before. By Mark Price. Updated November 01, 2021 6:06 AM.
From Soho Revue, Kristy M. Chan, It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now (pynchon) (2022), Oil, oil bar and thread on polyester o…
It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now. “Mark Bradford is an artist who incorporates ephemera from urban environments into ...
Oct 31, 2017 ... Matthew Stafford's 400-yard, no-touchdown game? It has happened before ... ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Once Matthew Stafford had reached the red zone on ...

Alternatives:

It happened before
It has occurred before

It had happened before

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

This phrase is used to refer to an event that took place before another past event. It is often used in the context of storytelling or recounting past events.

Examples:

By the time I arrived, it had happened before.
She realized it had happened before when she saw the familiar scene.

Show examples from the web [+]

Hi, I have a questions, Is this sentence grammatically wrong? "It has happened before"... or is it better to say "It had happened before"...
Oct 1, 2014 ... It had happened before. The Million Dollar Homepage was a 2005 experiment by a British college student. He offered to sell individual pixels ...
Aug 19, 2021 ... “It had happened before, so I didn't think anything of it at first,” said Besch. “Later that night, I had pain in my hip, and by two a.m., ...

Alternatives:

It had occurred before
It had happened previously

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