we have decided vs we had decided

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'We have decided' is used when referring to a decision that was made recently or is still relevant in the present. 'We had decided' is used when referring to a decision that was made in the past, before another past event. The choice between the two depends on the timeline of events being described.

Last updated: April 03, 2024 • 920 views

we have decided

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English when referring to a decision that was made recently or is still relevant in the present.

Use 'we have decided' when talking about a decision that was made recently or is still relevant in the present. It indicates a current state resulting from a recent decision.

Examples:

We have decided to go on a trip next weekend.
They have decided to postpone the meeting until next week.
I have decided to change my career path.
Have you decided on a restaurant for dinner?
She has decided to study abroad next semester.

Show examples from the web [+]

Jan 8, 2021 ... After reviewing your qualifications, we have decided not to move forward with your application for this specific opportunity.
English Also in the European Union the courts are there to ensure the better legal operation of the institutions and policies we have decided on jointly.

Alternatives:

We decided
We made a decision
We settled on
We chose
We opted for

we had decided

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English when referring to a decision that was made in the past, before another past event.

Use 'we had decided' when talking about a decision that was made in the past, before another past event. It indicates a decision that was finalized before a specific point in the past.

Examples:

We had decided to leave before the storm hit.
They had decided on a color scheme for the wedding before the venue was booked.
I had decided to quit my job before I received the promotion.
Had you decided on a gift for her birthday before she canceled the party?
She had decided to move to a new city before she met her partner.

Show examples from the web [+]

I ran away because we had decided to live together.
But we had decided to rescue James Leer.
And within a day, we had decided that maybe we could take a shortcut to finding the structure of DNA.
In fact, we had decided to save Marcello.
Yet our choice was right and met with cooperation from distributors: we never had to give up screening a film we had decided to show.
I didn't know we had decided on it.
Paul: That's what we had decided upon.
Twenty years ago, we had decided to develop a way to get actually friendly with what was then the Soviets.
In a revolutionary move, we had decided never to speak to the final consumer.
Thanks to one of the gift boxes received by a couple of friends, we had decided to go to Ciasa Pradel.
The project was groundbreaking as we had decided to use a then-new technique for the facial capture.
However, we had decided that, before undertaking any review, we should evaluate the effects of the new regulation.
My explanation of vote against related to the fact that we had decided - and Mr Martens was present - to include this issue on the agenda.
One thing that we had decided to do is get some aerial footage, so we decided to take our own helicopter with us.
General Morillon has just reminded us that, as the European People's Party, we had decided on this initiative on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May.
We had decided she would not leave me.
We had decided to conceive a child.
So, after a long discussion with other colleagues, We had decided to give him only three subjects.
We had decided to shoot with Walter Steiner because he's absolutely in a class of his own nowadays.
We had decided to implement our kernel as a collection of server processes running on top of Mach.

Alternatives:

We had made a decision
We had settled on
We had chosen
We had opted for

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