I have had

[suniljain]

I have had a chance to review this in detail.

Can we write this sentence without 'have"? What difference it makes if we use "have"?

Is this present perfect tense?

 

[suniljain]

I have had - present perfect
I had - past simple

Both are possible. Context will show which is appropriate.

In what context we can use "have had"? Is there any other way to write this?

 

[Matthew Wai]

For the past few weeks, I've had a chance ...
A few weeks ago, I had a chance ...

 

[kilroy65]

suniljain, as explained in the previous posts, we use the present perfect tense when our reference point is now, the present moment. The past is related to the present. That is why we call it "present perfect":

1. "I have lost my keys." - It doesn't matter when I lost them; what really matters is that now I can't open my car.
2. "He has been to Brazil many times." (until now)

We use the past simple when we refer to a specific point in the past: yesterday, two days ago, in 2004... The activity started and finished in the past; there is a gap between its end and the present moment:

3. "I lost my car keys two days ago."
4. "He was in Brazil in 2002."

This note is a bit oversimplified but I hope it helps.

 

[Matthew Wai]

3. "I lost my car keys two days ago."

The speaker can still start the car now as long as s/he found them afterward.

 

[kilroy65]

In this case, the speaker has to elaborate by saying that s/he has found them.

 

[Roman55]

The past is related to the present. That is why we call it "present perfect"

When I was at school, admittedly some time ago now, the names we were taught were the imperfect, the perfect and the pluperfect (along with others of course). These have now become past continuous, present perfect and past perfect.

I assumed the present perfect has that name because the auxiliary verb is in the present tense.

 

[emsr2d2]

This dialogue uses both. I hope you can see why.

Me: I have lost my car keys.
Bob: When did you lose them?
Me: I lost them two days ago.

The use of "I have lost my car keys" at the start shows that the keys have still not been found.

 

[GoesStation]

When I was at school, admittedly some time ago now, the names we were taught were the imperfect, the perfect and the pluperfect (along with others of course). These have now become past continuous, present perfect and past perfect.

I assumed the present perfect has that name because the auxiliary verb is in the present tense.

Past continuous is another name for the past progressive, not for the imperfect.

 

[Matthew Wai]

In this case, the speaker has to elaborate by saying that s/he has found them.

I meant that the simple past in this case told nothing about the present situation.

 

[Roman55]

Past continuous is another name for the past progressive, not for the imperfect.

I disagree. Both terms are other names for the imperfect. We are talking about English here, not other languages.

This is an extract of a Wikipedia article on the subject.

"When used in relation to English, "imperfect" refers to forms much more commonly called past progressive or past continuous (like was doing or were doing). These are combinations of past tense with specifically continuous or progressive aspect."

The whole article can be found here.

 

[suniljain]

I have had a chance to review this in detail.

Does this mean that I got a change to review the detail recently?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think 'I recently had' means so.

 

[kilroy65]

I have had a chance to review this in detail.

Can we write this sentence without 'have"? What difference it makes if we use "have"?

Is this present perfect tense?

In certain cases, the difference might be huge:

1. "He has never seen the ocean." - The person is still alive.
2. "He never saw the ocean." - The person is no longer alive.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think he is still alive in 'He never saw the ocean before'.