Sunday, May 21, 2017

tense - "Have had" versus "had"


How does the usage of "have had" and "had" differ?


Here is my example from my other question:



People who have had their belongings taken will turn into miserable people.



Here are the things I seem to have gotten from StoneyB's answers:




  • Have had is used for one-time occurrences, but had can be used for such occurrences as well

  • Have or simple present is used for something more habitual


So does that mean have had and had are interchangeable?



People who have had their belongings taken will turn into miserable people. [= "People who had their belongings taken will turn into miserable people."]



Is this assumption correct, or do they imply different meanings?


So a sentence like "people who smoke will get sick" means that a habitual smoker will get sick, but a sentence like "people who have smoked will get sick" means that if you have smoked even once in your life, you'll get sick. Is this exact?





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