-2

A little help please,

Which of the following is more accurate in this sentence, "The dream I had last night is one I (had had/have had/am having) for many years"?

I'd say it is "am having" since there is a period which spans -perhaps- until the present. However, there is also a sense of "pastness" as having been suspended and then suddenly returned.

Any suggestions?

Rubick
  • 1
  • “had had” and “have had” are both grammatical. They mean different things so without knowing what was intended, it’s impossible to say which is “right”. But “am having” is definitely wrong. – Jim Sep 21 '19 at 19:02
  • Yeah, pretty much appears to be so. Thing is, it is an examination question (choose ONE of the following) and that's what makes me think there's some kind of a trick or an implied detail about it. – Rubick Sep 21 '19 at 19:12
  • @Rubick - On a test I’d choose “have had” because the context required is simpler than that for “had had” – Jim Sep 21 '19 at 19:46
  • OK, thanks for your time, sir. Much appreciated. – Rubick Sep 22 '19 at 14:51

2 Answers2

2

My choice would be "have been having", but since that choice isn't there, I think "have had" would be better because it implies that the dream has been recurring up until that point.

Neathed Studios
  • 21
  • My thoughts exactly. If it were for me, I'd form this sentence using "have been having" (this seems to give the sense of continuation while still retaining the sense of "pastness"). But that's not included in the question. What really bewilders me is that I am expected to choose one answer while it seems possible to choose either. – Rubick Sep 21 '19 at 18:42
  • Exactly. If this is for school or some other extracurricular, then ask your mentor/teacher when you get the chance. Otherwise, I think "have had" is probably your best option. – Neathed Studios Sep 21 '19 at 20:21
1

You'd say "had had" if those "many years" take place prior to "last night." When you are speaking in the past tense, like "dream I had last night," and you need to then say another past action happens further into the past from that past tense timeframe, like "one I (have) for many years," use the pluperfect tense, so you'd say "had had" since it's the pluperfect tense of "have."

But if you want to show that you think that the past action "have" from those "many years" exists some way in the present or has some present effect, then you'd say "have had" because that is the present perfect tense and that's what the present perfect tense is used for, like if you include the present in those "many years," then you'd make the verb "have" its present perfect form "have had."

Saying "am having" in that sentence is unnatural. That's a wording only a non-native English speaker would use.

  • Hmm, makes sense. I did have a thought about this after I've read through some threads here but, still, thinking of the possibilities of tenses' references to time seems a bit bewildering (at least for me). I'd like to hear more opinions about this. Thanks for your time, sir. I really appreciate it. – Rubick Sep 21 '19 at 18:30