"He Had Had," (He What WHAT?" LOL!)

Here's a good page on the topic from BBC World Service, Learning English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv343.shtml

ooo! I like that the wiki link lists Jasper Fforde's book as a "had had had had had had..." example!

Wow, Owlwings! Thanks for those links! I've bookmarked those for future reference. They're very clear, & in certain cases, very funny! If I return to teaching ESL, I can use them. Maggiepie "In art, economy is always beauty." ~ Henry James

YOYO: I do it for reading as well as for spoken language. If I don't, I find it difficult to return to the story! That's just my quirky hangup, I realize. It's probably a sign of some sort of obsessive-compulsive behavior. I hadn't considered "used to" as bad, but I do like your take on it. I may change that, as well, if it starts to nag me as "had had" does! Maggiepie "In art, economy is always beauty." ~ Henry James

STINE: Bitte! I took German (Old High German, at that) in high school, & I must disagree! English is a stew of other languages, along with some original English, with each language having its own peculiar grammatical rules of word use, & all of them cobbled together higgledy-piggledy, so that spelling & grammar are incomprehensibly arbitrary! One must memorize every "exception" to the gigglegiggle "rules" in order to speak it even moderately well! I've taught ESL, & have often wondered how those whose native language doesn't stem from a Latin base--even partially!--ever manage to learn my tongue! Heck, the only reason I learned it, I'm sure, is because I did so before I found out how hard it is to learn! German seems far more consistent & reasonable to me! Yes, it does have words that are a pastiche of other words, which results in some very long & rambling terms, but at least those words all have the same base, & types of spelling! I liked learning German. My teacher was from Germany, & she told me I had the accent down perfectly. Sidebar: This will date me, but one of our German club's class assignments was to attend a church that did their entire service in Old High German. This was in Houston in the early 60s. Try even suggesting such a non-PC thing now! Maggiepie "In art, economy is always beauty." ~ Henry James

LOL! So I'm to blame, eh? Or is that, "I get the credit"? Go look at Owlwings' links. I think you'll get quite a kick out of them! Maggiepie "In art, economy is always beauty." ~ Henry James

Then congratulations on doing the same as I do! Brilliant minds think alike, eh? Maggiepie "It is with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn." ~ Robert Southey, poet (1774-1843)

Uh...yuh. Whutever... Maggiepie "In art, economy is always beauty." ~ Henry James

I rather suppose that not many do. I guess it's part of my anal retentive nature! Maggiepie "It is with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn." ~ Robert Southey, poet (1774-1843)

Aw, Dawnald, gotta love your posts!!! Maggiepie "In art, economy is always beauty." ~ Henry James

Well, as I said, technically it's okay to say "had had," but to me, even though it's not "wrong," it just clashes in my aesthetic ear. I, also, must read until I understand, & once I do, I make that switch of which I spoke, to form a better arrangement in my mind. That last sentence you wrote is one of my main goals. I do have trouble at times with tenses, so I'm extra careful! Maggiepie "The smallest feline is a masterpiece." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Well, as I said, I do realize it's a quirk of my own (though Kenzie says she does it, also). Still, thanks for the compliment! Maggiepie "In art, economy is always beauty." ~ Henry James