I'd had grammar lessons by then

  • Thread starter Thread starter DaveC426913
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The discussion revolves around the grammatical complexities of the phrase "had had" and variations involving multiple instances of the word "had." Participants explore how to construct meaningful sentences using this phrase, emphasizing the challenge of contextualizing it correctly. The simplest example provided is "I have listed eight hads in a row," but this is critiqued as lacking creativity. The conversation includes increasingly complex sentences, demonstrating the potential for constructing longer sequences, with examples reaching up to 26 instances of "had." The participants highlight the importance of context in understanding these constructions, illustrating their points through playful exchanges and examples, ultimately showcasing the intricacies of English grammar and the use of past perfect tense.
DaveC426913
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Grammar lesson

Contextualize (you may add words before and after, but not in) and punctuate the following fragment, so as to create a meaningful, plausible, sensical and grammatically correct sentence (or sentences):


had had had had had had had had

Clearly, the easiest sentence(s) is some variation of the form "I have listed eight hads in a row, thus: had had had had had had had had". It is also not using "had" grammatically, but merely as an anonymous "word object", and I will immediately pooh-pooh it and derivatives of it as lazy and unimaginative.
 
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I saw a similar puzzle years ago using 7 hads. I tried to modifiy it for 8 and then realized I could go to 10.

Alphonse, while Gaston had had "had had", had had "had". "had had" had been correct.
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eom
 
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Here's one with 9 had's that doesn't cheat the capital H.

Oliver, while Stanley had had 'Alphonse, while Gaston had had "had had", had had "had"', had had 'Gaston, while Alphonse had had "had", had had "had had"'
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eom
 
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jimmysnyder said:
Here's one with 9 had's that doesn't cheat the capital H.

Which is to say, Oliver, while Stanley had had 'had had "had had", had had "had"', had had 'had had "had", had had "had had"'.
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I get 18 consecutive hads.
-OR -

Oliver, while Stanley had had 'had had "had had", had had "had"', had had 'had had "had", had had "had had"'.
'had had "had had", had had "had"' had been correct.
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for 26.
 
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Now I see that this scales and you can have as many hads as you wish:


Gaston: I had enough.

Alphonse: I had had enough.

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Stanley: Alphonse, while Gaston had had "had", had had "had had".

Oliver: Gaston, while Alphonse had had "had had", had had "had".

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Romeo: Stanley, while Oliver had had 'had had "had had", had had "had"' had had 'had had "had", had had "had had"'.

Juliet: Oliver, while Stanley had had 'had had "had", had had "had had"' had had 'had had "had had", had had "had"'.

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Hillary: Romeo, while Juliet had had `had had 'had had "had", had had "had had"' had had 'had had "had had", had had "had"'`, had had `had had 'had had "had had", had had "had"' had had 'had had "had", had had "had had"'`.

Bill: Juliet, while Romeo had had `had had 'had had "had had", had had "had"' had had 'had had "had", had had "had had"'`, had had `had had 'had had "had", had had "had had"' had had 'had had "had had", had had "had"'`.

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etc.
 
You guys are brilliant.

Contextualizing it, I had had this:

During their grammar lesson, Jimmy and Jill were tested on their understanding of past and past perfect tenses such as in phrases like “I had had a bath that day”. When the test though, Jill beat Jimmy. Jimmy had had “had”, whereas Jill had had “had had”. “Had had” had had a better effect on the teacher.
 
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Just for fun:

You had the prior puzzle to contextualize "had had had had had had had", ergo, you had, "had had had had had had had had"(with appropriate punctuation) as an answer.
 

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