Though he had had success broadcasting his controversial

Question

Though he had had success broadcasting his controversial radio program on highly regulated terrestrial airwaves, Howard Stern opted out of terrestrial broadcasting in favor of the less regulated satellite radio medium.

A. Though he had had
B. Though he has had
C. Even though he had
D. Having had
E. Having achieved

(A) Though he had had
(B) Though he has had
(C) Even though he had
(D) Having had
(E) Having achieved

learner · Accepted Answer

have had / has had

We typically use have as a main verb with an object to talk about common actions. There are lots of things that we have in English, meaning that we enjoy or experience them. For instance, we can:

have breakfast/lunch/dinner/supper/a bite to eat/a light meal

have a hot or cold drink/a glass of wine/a cup of coffee/some mineral water

have a shower/a bath/a wash and shave

have a rest/a snooze/a siesta/a good sleep/a bad dream

have a walk/a swim/a good time/a nice evening/a day off/a holiday/a good journey/a good trip

have a word with someone/a chat/a conversation/a quarrel/an argument

have a headache/a sore throat/hay fever/a bad back/a bad cold

have a (good) job/some work to do/money/an opportunity/a chance

We use the present perfect tense when we want to connect the present with the (recent) past in some way and this will appear as has had or have had in full forms or as 's had or 've had in contracted forms:

Have they had their breakfast yet? ~ They've had a glass of orange juice, but they haven't had anything to eat yet.

He was in a foul mood when he got back, but now that he's had a shower and a snooze, he's calmed down a bit.

Have you had a nice evening, Barbara? ~ I've had a rotten evening. I had an argument with Tom and I've had enough for one day.

Have you always had hay fever? ~ I've had it every summer since I was 13.

Thus, your example sentence, Sazd, I've had a headache since early morning, is quite correct.

had had

Had had is the past perfect form of have when it is used as a main verb to describe our experiences and actions. We use the past perfect when we are talking about the past and want to refer back to an earlier past time, Madiini. In these examples, note the use of before, after, already and by the time as a trigger for the past perfect. Note also that the contracted form of had had is 'd had.

She'd had a lot to drink and wasn't capable of walking home by herself.

After he'd had a good night's sleep, he felt much better.

She sacked him before he had had a chance to explain his behaviour.

By the time he was twenty he'd already had four different jobs.

I'd already had a word with Joan about re-locating to Manchester and now she's had time to think about it, she quite likes the idea.

Note that past perfect forms are a feature of if-clauses in the third type of conditional sentence when we are explaining past actions or regretting past inaction. Thus, had had is likely to appear in this construction:

If I hadn't had a good education, I would never have got this job.

If she had had children later in life, she would have been a better mother.

If I'd had another ten minutes, I would've finished the examination paper.

Had they had any savings they didn't need, they would've re-paid their son's student loan.

Source : https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learn ... v343.shtml

samrus98 · Answer

Well, am not 100% sure of this one. I would go ahead with A

A: Correct
B: '.....has had......opted out......' is wrong
C: Another 'had' is needed
D & E: Use of 'having' gives the statement a totally different connotation.

ugimba · Answer

it is between A and C ... I think C makes more sense ... when he opted out .. I think He was still successful.

to use past participle .. 2 things need to happen in the past. the very first thing happend inthe past, uses past participle and the second one uses simple past. But here the first thing completly done before second thing stats ... so in this case past participle makes sense..

but in the question, he was still successful when he opted out so I don't think past participle suits in this situation..
please post OE if you have ...
IMO C.

gurpreetsingh · Answer

had had is past perfect of 'to have'
has/have had is present perfect of 'to have'

Here we have to use past perfect to show the occurrence of previous past event.

sachinrelan · Answer

Thanks Gurpreet ...i was also convinced that here past perfect is needed, but what is wrong with option E and D, as "Having acheived" and "Having had" are alternate forms to express past perfect tense and sequence of events.

shrouded1 · Answer

Having -ed is not past perfect tense Past perfect would be had -ed

TommyWallach · Answer

Hey Sachin,

Shrouded isn't quite right here. Obviously the last two answer choices are not the past perfect tense, but they are legitimate ways to word the sentence. The issue is one of meaning. We want the "though," to express that Howard Stern left EVEN THOUGH he was successful. He didn't leave BECAUSE he'd been successful (that doesn't make any sense), which is the meaning in the last two answer choices.

Hope that helps!

-t

hemanthp · Answer

Well, Tim Sanders (Tommy's colleague ..I think!) gives a good explanation too. Check it out - https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/sc- ... 10137.html

arundas · Answer

I opted for C because at quite a few places I have read that if the order in which events happen is clear then we dont have to use past - perfect tense with past tense to state the order of execution. In this statement use of Though makes its clear that success happened before Mr Stern decided to opt out.

Guru's would appreciate your inputs.

Guru's would appreciate your inputs.

daagh · Answer

@ Arundas: I would rather think that the reverse is the right case in grammatical sense. When we are not clear about the order in which events have happened, then it will be safe to describe those actions in simple past. When the timings are clear, the last one has to be in simple past and the earlier one or ones in past perfect.

arps · Answer

Though he had had success broadcasting his controversial radio program on highly regulated terrestrial airwaves, Howard Stern opted out of terrestrial broadcasting in favor of the less regulated satellite radio medium.

A. Though he had had
B. Though he has had
C. Even though he had
D. Having had
E. Having achieved

A)Though he had had-  CORRECT 
B)Though he  has had  - HAS HAD IS WRONG 
C)Even though he had- EVEN = THOUGH (REDUNDANT)
D)Having had- CHANGES THE MEANING 
E)Having achieved - CHANGES THE MEANING

mandyrhtdm · Answer

Should it not be E ?
Had had means something which happened in the past before another event which also happened in the past and then ended.
where are when we use thee progressive tense it means that event or its after effects are still continuing, and success once achieved stays with you.
so shouldn't it be having achieved ?

daagh · Answer

Though there is nothing weird about it, this topic has a subtle pitfall in terms of meaning. A says that Howard had had success for some time in terrestrial one (and that the success stopped for a while) and then he chose to pursue the satellite thing. Otherwise, there is no need for past perfect tense.

However, this not the intension of the text. The actual meaning is that even as he was having success (an on -going affair) he chose to switch from terrestrial to satellite. Both were happening at the same time. Therefore, there is no need for a past perfect. A simple past tense, namely, ‘had’ is sufficient. I beg to differ from the official version A in favor of C

BillyZ · Answer

From Ron (Manhattan)

One use of " had " is the  PAST TENSE  of the infinitive " TO HAVE ". (let's call this "had1") 
This is like other past tenses, such as " was ", " chose ", " ran ", " threw ".

Another is the  PAST PARTICIPLE  of the infinitive " TO HAVE ". (let's call this "had2") 
This is like other past participles, such as " been ", " chosen ", " run ", " thrown ".

The other is as a  HELPING VERB  that appears in the  PAST PERFECT . (let's call this "had3")

Here's how " to have " is conjugated:

Present : He has the flu. 
 Past : He had the flu. (this is had1) 
 Past Perfect : He  had had  the flu. (this is had3 had2)

Analogy : Some other random verb, such as " to choose "

Present : He chooses the steak entree. 
 Past : He chose the steak entree. 
 Past Perfect : He had chosen the steak entree. (this is had3)

The difficulty here lies in not confusing the different "had"s.

The second clause says that he " OPTED OUT ". This mean that he QUIT terrestrial broadcasting.

Given that he had previously enjoyed success, this is indeed a contrast.

anairamitch1804 · Answer

OE :

The original sentence correctly uses the past perfect form “had had” to establish a chronology of two
past events; it is clear that Howard Stern “had had success” (past perfect) prior to the moment in the
past when he “opted out” (simple past) of terrestrial broadcasting.

(A) CORRECT. This choice is correct as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) The present perfect form “has had” incorrectly implies that Howard Stern continues to have
success broadcasting on terrestrial airwaves, even after opting out of terrestrial broadcasting. The
present perfect form is used for events that began in the past and continue into the present; the past
perfect "had had" must be used to indicate the earliest of multiple past events.

(C) The use of the simple past “he had” fails to establish a time-ordering of the two past events; the
past perfect form of the verb is needed to indicate that Howard Stern “had had success” (past perfect)
prior to the moment in the past when he “opted out” (simple past) of terrestrial broadcasting. Also,
“even though” is unnecessarily wordy. The more concise “though” is preferred.

(D) "Having had" is an accepted alternative past perfect construction and thus is grammatically
correct. However, the use of “having had” implies that Howard Stern “opted out of terrestrial
broadcasting” as a result of “having had” success with terrestrial broadcasts. The logical meaning of
the sentence is that he “opted out” despite his previous success, not because of it.
GOOD meaning change twist.

(E) "Having achieved" is an accepted alternative past perfect construction and thus is grammatically
correct. However, the use of “having achieved” implies that Howard Stern “opted out of terrestrial
broadcasting” as a result of “having achieved” success with terrestrial broadcasts. The logical meaning
of the sentence is that he “opted out” despite his previous success, not because of it.
GOOD meaning change twist.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Though he had had success broadcasting his controversial

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Though he had had success broadcasting his controversial

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