had
had — verb
1. the past tense of 'have', used for saying someone owned, experienced, or did som
the past tense of 'have', used for saying someone owned, experienced, or did something in the past; also the past participle form, used with another past participle to show an action finished before a later time in the past
Vikram had a black cat when he lived in his grandmother's house.
had + noun phrase (possession)
The meeting had already finished by the time Lucía arrived at the office.
had + already + past participle (past perfect)
There had never been such a big earthquake in the town before 2015.
After walking for two hours, the hikers had covered more than fifteen kilometres.
Meera told her boss that she had sent the report the day before.
文法句型
had + noun phrase
had + past participle
had + been + present participle
用法筆記
This sense covers the grammatical function of 'had' as the past form of 'have'. The specific meaning (possession, experience, eating, obligation, etc.) depends on which sense of the base verb 'have' is being used. Where 'have' is an auxiliary verb for the past perfect, 'had' can combine with almost any past participle.
常見錯誤
2. used in the fixed expression 'have had it' to describe a machine or device so ol
used in the fixed expression 'have had it' to describe a machine or device so old or damaged that fixing it is pointless, or a person, group, or situation where the chance of success has passed and failure is certain
The washing machine has had it — the drum stopped turning and water leaks everywhere.
fixed phrase: has had it (machine)
After four losses in a row, the team knew it had had it for the season.
had had it (team/group, past perfect)
My ten-year-old laptop has had it; the screen stays black no matter what I try.
When the engine started smoking on the highway, Christopher knew the car had had it.
- working
for machines; opposite of 'kaput' or 'broken beyond repair'
- still in the running
for teams or people; opposite of 'doomed to fail'
文法句型
subject + have/has had it
subject + had had it
用法筆記
Always appears in a perfect tense — 'has had it' (present perfect) or 'had had it' (past perfect). Cannot be used without the perfect auxiliary: ✗ 'my car had it' (wrong). The subject is usually a thing (appliance, vehicle, device) or a collective noun (team, company, project).
常見錯誤
had — adjective
1. tricked or cheated in a transaction, especially by paying too much for something
tricked or cheated in a transaction, especially by paying too much for something or by receiving goods that are worth less than what was agreed
Nia paid five thousand for the bag and later learned it was a fake — she had been had.
been had (past after discovering a cheat)
The tourists were had by a taxi driver who charged them three times the normal fare.
Eve felt she had been had when the antique vase turned out to be a modern copy.
Don't buy electronics from street sellers in that market or you will be had.
- cheated
neutral and widely used; covers any dishonest treatment
- ripped off
informal, strongly tied to paying too much for poor quality
- taken advantage of
softer and broader; can apply beyond money
- swindled
more formal and dramatic; implies a planned fraud
- treated fairly
neutral opposite; what a buyer hopes for
文法句型
subject + be + had
subject + have been + had
用法筆記
Only used predicatively — after 'be', 'get', or 'feel'. Never used before a noun (❌ 'a had customer'). The subject is usually a buyer or customer who discovers they were cheated. Common in past tense ('was had', 'were had', 'been had').