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English as she is spoke.

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  • S Offline
    S Offline
    Septimus Hedgehog
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

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    • S Septimus Hedgehog

      I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

      D Offline
      D Offline
      David1987
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      It's the past perfect of 'to have', isn't it? (long time ago since I had to learn grammar though)

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      • S Septimus Hedgehog

        I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

        H Offline
        H Offline
        Hans Dietrich
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        I've always thought that the second 'had' refers to some action; in your example, "she had received an injection...". Other words (in other contexts) could be 'gotten', 'experienced', 'undergone', etc.

        Best wishes, Hans


        [Hans Dietrich Software]

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        • S Septimus Hedgehog

          I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

          M Offline
          M Offline
          Mike Hankey
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          I'm still learning it. :)

          Semper Fi http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^]
          www.jaxcoder.com[^] WinHeist - Windows Electronic Inventory SysTem

          H 1 Reply Last reply
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          • D David1987

            It's the past perfect of 'to have', isn't it? (long time ago since I had to learn grammar though)

            G Offline
            G Offline
            GenJerDan
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            Yep. And it's possible to have even more "hads" in a sentence. :)

            There is water at the bottom of the ocean. My Mu[sic] My Films My Windows Programs, etc.

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            • M Mike Hankey

              I'm still learning it. :)

              Semper Fi http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^]
              www.jaxcoder.com[^] WinHeist - Windows Electronic Inventory SysTem

              H Offline
              H Offline
              Henry Minute
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              Apart from your weird habit of missing out the odd vowel you're not doing too badly.

              Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.

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              • H Henry Minute

                Apart from your weird habit of missing out the odd vowel you're not doing too badly.

                Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.

                M Offline
                M Offline
                Mike Hankey
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                Henry if I did not have a spell checker we wouldn't be able to communicate. :)

                Semper Fi http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^]
                www.jaxcoder.com[^] WinHeist - Windows Electronic Inventory SysTem

                OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
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                • M Mike Hankey

                  Henry if I did not have a spell checker we wouldn't be able to communicate. :)

                  Semper Fi http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^]
                  www.jaxcoder.com[^] WinHeist - Windows Electronic Inventory SysTem

                  OriginalGriffO Offline
                  OriginalGriffO Offline
                  OriginalGriff
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  You got my vote brother. :)

                  Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."

                  "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                  "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

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                  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                    You got my vote brother. :)

                    Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."

                    H Offline
                    H Offline
                    Henry Minute
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    Since you two are so obviously brothers why does your offspring resemble Keith Barrow and not Mike? What's going on here? I think we deserve to be told!

                    Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.

                    OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • H Henry Minute

                      Since you two are so obviously brothers why does your offspring resemble Keith Barrow and not Mike? What's going on here? I think we deserve to be told!

                      Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.

                      OriginalGriffO Offline
                      OriginalGriffO Offline
                      OriginalGriff
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      We are indeed brothers; however, we have different mothers. And different fathers, come to that.

                      Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."

                      "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                      "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                      E 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • S Septimus Hedgehog

                        I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

                        L Offline
                        L Offline
                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        John and Jane wrote a sentence each; John wrote "my cat had its dinner"; Jane wrote "my cat had had its dinner". So, Jane, where John had had "had", had had "had had". Tough, I thought, though thorough and not rough, I coughed. There are plenty more. Modern English has its roots in many other cultures, largely as a result of the English/British penchant (from the French) for exploring the world. Also the reason why it is spoken so widely; not forgetting the fact that the British are notoriously bad at learning other languages.

                        I must get a clever new signature for 2011.

                        S E 2 Replies Last reply
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                        • H Henry Minute

                          Apart from your weird habit of missing out the odd vowel you're not doing too badly.

                          Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.

                          L Offline
                          L Offline
                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          Vowel problems are common at his age.

                          Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • L Lost User

                            John and Jane wrote a sentence each; John wrote "my cat had its dinner"; Jane wrote "my cat had had its dinner". So, Jane, where John had had "had", had had "had had". Tough, I thought, though thorough and not rough, I coughed. There are plenty more. Modern English has its roots in many other cultures, largely as a result of the English/British penchant (from the French) for exploring the world. Also the reason why it is spoken so widely; not forgetting the fact that the British are notoriously bad at learning other languages.

                            I must get a clever new signature for 2011.

                            S Offline
                            S Offline
                            Septimus Hedgehog
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            Don't forget spanish, Richard. I believe an estimate has been given that at the current rate of assimilation and immigration it could well become a dual language in the US given a few decades or so. In much the same way that the quebecois coexist with english and french in Canada. The BBC recently ran an insert on languages and interviewed a Swedish chap who speaks eight languages but I suspect people like that are more savants than taught students. One woman was interviewed and when pressed to give a reason why she only speaks english, she remarked "we don't really need to speak another language because everybody speaks english." Well, not quite, but I can see her reasoning. One of the significant factors that contributed to the worldwide adoption of english can be traced to that brilliant man, John Harrison, whose chronometers H1 through H4 made the seas and far-off lands accessible due to the reliable discovery of longitude. Having visited the shrine of those clocks at the Royal Observatory I believe a law should be passed making it compulsory for everone to see those clocks once in a lifetime. They are beautifully exquisite masterpieces of the horologists art. Then again, the town where we live, Crawley (google for Chav towns) has a level of english which is barely a perfunctory grunt above the monosyllabic.

                            L B 2 Replies Last reply
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                            • S Septimus Hedgehog

                              Don't forget spanish, Richard. I believe an estimate has been given that at the current rate of assimilation and immigration it could well become a dual language in the US given a few decades or so. In much the same way that the quebecois coexist with english and french in Canada. The BBC recently ran an insert on languages and interviewed a Swedish chap who speaks eight languages but I suspect people like that are more savants than taught students. One woman was interviewed and when pressed to give a reason why she only speaks english, she remarked "we don't really need to speak another language because everybody speaks english." Well, not quite, but I can see her reasoning. One of the significant factors that contributed to the worldwide adoption of english can be traced to that brilliant man, John Harrison, whose chronometers H1 through H4 made the seas and far-off lands accessible due to the reliable discovery of longitude. Having visited the shrine of those clocks at the Royal Observatory I believe a law should be passed making it compulsory for everone to see those clocks once in a lifetime. They are beautifully exquisite masterpieces of the horologists art. Then again, the town where we live, Crawley (google for Chav towns) has a level of english which is barely a perfunctory grunt above the monosyllabic.

                              L Offline
                              L Offline
                              Lost User
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              PHS241 wrote:

                              the town where we live, Crawley

                              Ugh! Where my ex-wife lives.

                              I must get a clever new signature for 2011.

                              M 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • S Septimus Hedgehog

                                I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

                                S Offline
                                S Offline
                                Samuel Cragg
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                I think it's the pluperfect, which basically means an event that occurred before a previous event (if that even makes sense). For example, yesterday I went to the bank (an event in the past) but the bank had closed (this happened before the previous past event). Spanish has the same form (and probably other languages, but it's the only language I know apart from English). This is about the only thing from two years of studying Latin that I remember!

                                S B 2 Replies Last reply
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                                • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                  You got my vote brother. :)

                                  Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."

                                  J Offline
                                  J Offline
                                  Joe Simes
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  Mine two too to a swell! ;)

                                  1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                    We are indeed brothers; however, we have different mothers. And different fathers, come to that.

                                    Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."

                                    E Offline
                                    E Offline
                                    Emilio Garavaglia
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #17

                                    Brothers of different mothers ... and also fathers ?? Well ... it could happen, if both your fathers had children with a same wife before (or after) your respective mothers. (Invert Mother/Father, and works the same) Basically, you're the "brother of the other's brother".

                                    2 bugs found. > recompile ... 65534 bugs found. :doh:

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • S Septimus Hedgehog

                                      I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

                                      L Offline
                                      L Offline
                                      Lost User
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #18

                                      There is always Lojban...

                                      Hassan

                                      K 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • S Septimus Hedgehog

                                        I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

                                        Y Offline
                                        Y Offline
                                        Yusuf
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #19

                                        James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher [^]

                                        Yusuf May I help you?

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • S Septimus Hedgehog

                                          I know it's in the nature of all languages to contain difficult phrasing that's hard to explain but I recently came across the use of "had had". I used it during the day sometime and it puzzled me why and when I mentioned it to my wife she also said she'd used it when writing to a medical case file. Her use described a patient "she had had an injection..." Why "she had had an..." and not "she had an injection..." Both forms, I think are correct, but how would you try to explain "had had" to someone learning english? It's almost like words ending in -ough. Through is "-oo", bough is "-ow", thorough is "-urrer", rough is "-uff", cough is "-off", dough is "-o". To quote: "Beware of beard, a terrible word, it looks like heard, but sounds like weird." I'm still surprised that english is almost the universally dominant language in the world but gaw'd 'elp those poor souls that try to learn it. :)

                                          L Offline
                                          L Offline
                                          Lost User
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #20

                                          If you think thats hard to explain. Then try explaining this to someone who knows english well let alone a newcomer. buffalo

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