1. They wanted me to include references, but I didn't want to list my previous landlord because I had had some problems with him in the past and I knew he wouldn't recommend me.

Hi towerSpider,

The correct tense here is "had had," as it describes an event that happened BEFORE another event that is in the past.

You are right that "had" sounds OK too, and it COULD have been correct if the phrase "in the past" hadn't been there. If you instead said "because I had some problems with him and I knew..." then those problems would be understood to have been occurring at the same time as or still be ongoing when "they wanted me to include references."

Since the problems did NOT occur at the same time as the request for references, but they actually occurred "in the past" relative to that point in time, i.e. BEFORE the request for references, the past perfect ("had had") is the way to go.

Here's a time line:
--------past perfect--------------------------simple past-----------------------present------------------
------problems with landlord---------request for references----------telling about the issue-------

Thats the problem. In official version, only "had" is used.

Thats the problem. In official version, only "had" is used.

Hi TowerSpider,

I'm afraid I must have misunderstood your question then. I responded to

Which one of them is correct and why?

If you have a different question, I'm happy to address it!

Can some 1 please show me where HAD HAD is preferred over HAD ..
Thanks

kapilhede17 wrote:Can some 1 please show me where HAD HAD is preferred over HAD ..
Thanks

Hi kapil,

"had had" is the past perfect of "to have," to we need a case where the past perfect is necessary. That means, we want "to have" something, but that action has to be the earlier of two past actions. So,

"My girlfriend made me pizza for dinner, but I had had pizza for lunch, so I didn't enjoy it. I feel terrible!"

Here, the speaker describes two actions. Both dinner and lunch are in the past, but the lunch is earlier in the past. So, the "had had" is correct--although "had eaten" or "had bought" might be less awkward!