[Grammar] Has Had and Has

[mr alfred]

Hello, may i know what is the differences between has had and has?

exp: my daughter has had an accident. (past event with unspecific time)
my daughter has an accident. (past event with unspecific time)

Is there any differences between the foregoing two examples? Are they grammatically correct? Is that true that had can only be used to show the sequencing of past event. For instance, i had finished my dinner when Ben arrived. Please give me some examples of the mistake that people usually make when they are using had in the sentence. Thank you so much

 

[White Hat]

The way I see it, he has an accident is not a past event. The form "has" denotes the present indefinite tense. For it to be a past event, we'll have to use "had".
I feel I know what you mean, though.
He's had an accident. -> Here we might feel the event happened some time ago today.
He has an accident. -> This should imply the person has just gotten into an accident and something should be done about it right away.

The two are really close in meaning, but a native speaker would be able to tell the difference, based on the situation in which those events could take place.

 

[Rover_KE]

I can't think of a situation where a native speaker would say 'He has an accident' (well, not as a stand-alone clause — maybe as part of a longer sentence like 'He's so careless; he has an accident every time he goes out').

Rover

 

[White Hat]

Technically, it's still possible to use "have/has". Take a look at this:

Yes, we have an accident on Kingsway, so Strand Underpass is closed.

 

[charliedeut]

Hi,

I believe it's just a typo. IMO, the OP meant to type "had" but hit the "s" instead.

 

[BobK]

Technically, it's still possible to use "have/has". Take a look at this:

Yes, we have an accident on Kingsway, so Strand Underpass is closed.

I don't think there's a typo, charliedeut, but the context (ahem!) shows that it's a Travel Alert - and it's using 'have an accident' in a sense that has little connection with a sentence like 'she has had an accident'. The 'We' in the Alert have not had an accident at all; there has been an accident on Kingsway, and 'We' are saying 'we have this situation - a road closure caused by a traffic accident'. This sort of 'we have an accident' is a common feature of traffic reports.

I really don't see any subtlety. 'Have had' refers to a past accident, and the only use I can think of for 'have an accident' (except in that unrelated traffic-report sense) is the one Rover has already mentioned.

b

 

[White Hat]

What if someone (who has to be somewhere on time) has just had an accident, phones another person and wants to let him/her know about it? As I now fully understand, saying "Hey, Julie (for example), I'm sorry but I have an accident" would be wrong, wouldn't it?

I do understand that as a travel alert that usage works absolutely fine. Just wanted to see how your, native speaker's, mind handles the one I've just described above.

 

[bhaisahab]

What if someone (who has to be somewhere on time) has just had an accident, phones another person and wants to let him/her know about it? As I now fully understand saying "Hey, Julie (for example), I'm sorry but I have an accident" would be wrong, wouldn't it?

I do understand that as a travel alert that usage works absolutely fine. Just wanted to see how your, native speaker's, mind handles the one I've just described above.

"Hey, Julie (for example), I'm sorry but I have an accident" would be wrong, wouldn't it?
Yes, it would.

 

[White Hat]

Which one would be correct?

I've (just) had an accident.
I'm a having an accident.

I'm absolutely sure it's going to be the 1st one. And you?

 

[White Hat]

I want to know why the author of this article (Megan Stack - Australia) is using the phrase in bold:

But it gradually dawned on him that he was still there, inside the ambulance. He still felt his body and, opening his eyes, could still see.
Chaalan and the other medics were lucky: they survived a direct hit from an Israeli missile. One of the dazed medics fumbled slowly for the radio and began: "We have an accident …"
He failed to finish the sentence because a second missile smashed into the ambulance behind them.

What's this?

 

[5jj]

One of the dazed medics fumbled slowly for the radio and began: "We have an accident …"
He failed to finish the sentence because a second missile smashed into the ambulance behind them.

What's this?

It's similar to the travel alert. He is speaking into the radio and reporting that they have an accident on their hands.

 

[White Hat]

Yes, but here the guy is taking part in that event - he is one of those attacked. As much as I want to make my English perfect, there still remain quite delicate topics that put me on the spot.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's the same phrase used regularly with police despatchers, ambulance drivers, helicopter pilots etc in an emergency situation:

- Alert. Alert. We have a three-car pile-up on the B2758 southbound.
- We have an accident blocking all four lanes of the M1 at the moment.
- We have a missile incident, several casualties. Please send medical help urgently.

In all those cases, "We have" means, as has been said in two other posts, "There is" or "We have a situation on our hands and here are the details" but using fewer words than the latter.

When we are actually talking about suffering an accident or being involved in an accident, we use the normal forms of "to have" that you would expect depending on the timescale.

I had an accident earlier but I'm OK now.
He had an accident last week and he is still in hospital.
He is going to be late because he has had a car crash and the police are still dealing with it.
They have had an accident on their motorbike so I don't think they're coming to the party.
He didn't go to the party because he had had an accident on his bike.

Edit: I've just seen the note about the person in the original piece being involved in the accident. It doesn't matter. If a police car is in collision with another vehicle, the police officer in the car involved in the crash will still radio "Despatch, we have a crash/accident/incident/collision on Main Street, junction of High Street. Police vehicle involved. Requesting backup" (or words to that effect!)

 

[White Hat]

So be it! Live and learn (from NATIVE speakers)! Cheers!

 

[billmcd]

Hello, may i know what is the differences between has had and has?

exp: my daughter has had an accident. (past event with unspecific time)
my daughter has an accident. (past event with unspecific time)

Is there any differences between the foregoing two examples? Are they grammatically correct? Is that true that had can only be used to show the sequencing of past event. For instance, i had finished my dinner when Ben arrived. Please give me some examples of the mistake that people usually make when they are using had in the sentence. Thank you so much

I'm sorry, but I just have to jump in here. mr alfred, are you still there? Somehow I think we got hung up in traffic on I78 because we have an accident blocking all lanes. Anyway, mr alfred's question used "has" and not "have". As always context rules, but I can think of a situation/possibility in which the statement "My daughter has an accident" would be OK, just as we have seen with "have" Consider, Mr. Alfred is on the phone with a friend/colleague and is handed a message that his daughter "has had an accident, and he tells his friend, "I must hang up. My daughter has an accident". Maybe it's a stretch, but possible. And while I'm at it, another stretch. It could be possible for a person to say, "I can't talk now. I'm having an accident". Use your imagination, or not.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm sorry, but I just have to jump in here. mr alfred, are you still there? Somehow I think we got hung up in traffic on I78 because we have an accident blocking all lanes. Anyway, mr alfred's question used "has" and not "have". As always context rules, but I can think of a situation/possibility in which the statement "My daughter has an accident" would be OK, just as we have seen with "have" Consider, Mr. Alfred is on the phone with a friend/colleague and is handed a message that his daughter "has had an accident, and he tells his friend, "I must hang up. My daughter has an accident". Maybe it's a stretch, but possible.

In my opinion, that's more than a stretch. If someone said that to me, I would assume English wasn't their native language. I would expect that person to say "I must hang up. I've just found out my daughter's had an accident" or "My daughter's been in an accident" - I prefer the latter.

And while I'm at it, another stretch. It could be possible for a person to say, "I can't talk now. I'm having an accident". Use your imagination, or not.

I rather wish I hadn't used my imagination there! ;-)

emsr2d2

 

[White Hat]

There you go, billmcd! I thought the same. It just must make sense. I feel a little relieved now.

 

[bhaisahab]

It doesn't make sense to me.

 

[BobK]

That's like the one in the traffic report. The medic in question hasn't 'had an accident'. The 'we have' means 'this is the situation we're dealing with'.

 

[5jj]

I can't believe that this is still going on. Five native speakers, all of them practising or retired teachers, have made their opinions clear. One native speaker, also a teacher has disagreed, but conceded " Maybe it's a stretch, but possible".

Rover (post #3) and Bob (post #6) seem to me to have covered everything. The rest of us (except bill) have just been confirming this.

I believe in flying saucers; I believe that Elvis (and JFK) are still alive; I believe that my mother-in-law is a nice person. Despite my proven gullibility, I find it hard to believe that native speakers would say "my daughter has an accident" for a 'past event with unspecific time'.