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Tarsier
Why is there “had just had” structure? And not “just had” in the highlighted sentence below?
Nov 17, 2023 4:41 PM
Answers · 10
3
"Have" is the helping verb and the main verb. It's in the Past Perfect tense, so it's "had had." The adverb "just" is placed between the helping verb and the main verb, so we end up with "had just had."
"Just had" would be the Simple Past tense, but the Past Perfect tense gives us more specific time information. It tells us that the conversation had happened before the moment she had the thought.
November 17, 2023
It's because she HAD a conversation. If she had SUNG a song instead, you would say
"She recalled the song she had just sung with the young woman".
Replace "song" with "conversation" and replace "sung" with "had" and you will be having a conversation instead of singing a song.
November 18, 2023
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Tarsier
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English, French
Learning Language
Chinese (Mandarin), English, French
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