"We have eaten" vs "We had eaten"

Question

"We have eaten" vs "We had eaten"

Both "we had eaten" and "we have eaten" are correct, but they are used in different contexts. "We had eaten" is used to talk about a past action that occurred before another past action, while "we have eaten" is used to talk about a past action that has relevance to the present.

Last Updated: March 22, 2024

Use "we have eaten" when you want to talk about a past action that is connected to the present moment. It is often used in present perfect tense to show a completed action with present relevance.

Examples:

We have eaten at that restaurant before.
I can't believe we have eaten all the cake already.
Have you eaten lunch yet?
She has eaten so much that she feels sick.
They have eaten all the snacks.

Alternatives:

we have finished eating
we have consumed
we have dined
we have partaken of the meal
we have ingested

Use "we had eaten" when you want to talk about a past action that happened before another past action. It is often used in past perfect tense to show the sequence of events.

Examples:

By the time we arrived, we had eaten all the food.
She realized she had eaten too much when she felt sick.
Before the movie started, we had eaten dinner.
I had eaten breakfast before I left for work.
They had eaten at the restaurant before, so they knew the food was good.

Alternatives:

we had finished eating
we had consumed
we had dined
we had partaken of the meal
we had ingested

Answer 1

We have eaten

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate a past action that has relevance to the present.

Answer 2

We had eaten

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate a past action that occurred before another past action.

"We have eaten" vs "We had eaten"

We have eaten

We had eaten

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