When in english grammar do you use had had?
“Had had is the past perfect form of have when it is used as a main verb to describe our experiences and actions. We use the past perfect when we are talking about the past and want to refer back to an earlier past time[…]. In these examples, note the use of before, after, already and by the time as a trigger for the past perfect. Note also that the contracted form of had had is ‘d had. She’d had a lot to drink and wasn’t capable of walking home by herself. After he’d had a good night’s sleep, he felt much better. She sacked him before he had had a chance to explain his behaviour. By the time he was twenty he’d already had four different jobs. I’d already had a word with Joan about re-locating to Manchester and now she’s had time to think about it, she quite likes the idea. Note that past perfect forms are a feature of if-clauses in the third type of conditional sentence when we are explaining past actions or regretting past inaction. Thus, had had is likely to appear in this constru
