I'm quite sure that you've used all these three words—has, have and had—correctly before. However, you may not have paid attention to their usages and the patterns they follow. Without knowing the patterns, it might be difficult for you to know when someone else uses them wrongly. That person might be your child or younger sibling.

Having taught English language for over five years, I present to you one of the common confusions Nigerians encounter when using the English language.

These three words—has, have and had—are used as both auxiliary verbs and main verbs. However, our goal is to simplify the English language so that even the least linguistically-minded person can understand. So, below are basic pieces of information regarding the words.

1. Use "has" when the subject is one person or thing. The subject is what the sentence talks about, and it usually appears at the beginning of a sentence or clause. See the following examples.

Aisha has a car. She has been driving since morning. 

Musa has a cat. He has been playing with it. 

The bird has red wings. It has flown away. 

My phone has a good battery. It has never disappointed me. 

Ayema has interesting features. It has the capacity to compete with other social media platforms.

2. Use "have" when the subject is one of the these: I, you or plural (more than one). See examples below.

I have a big textbook. I have been reading it for two months now.

You have a lot of patience. You have been reading this post for over three minutes. 

Aisha and Musa have a car. They have been driving since morning. 

Musa and his cat have a good relationship. They have been playing since morning. 

The birds have red wings. They have flown away. 

My phones have good batteries. They have never disappointed me. 

Ayema and Facebook have similar features. They have the tendency to compete with each other.

3. Use "had" when you're referring to past actions or states. See examples below.

Aisha had a car in 2017.

Musa had a cat last year.

The bird I killed yesterday had red wings.

My last phone had a good battery. It had never disappointed me before I sold it. 

2go had interesting features.

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Having discussed how the words are used in relation to what comes before them, it's important that we study what comes after them. We can't say "He has went to school"; rather, we say "He has gone to school". Why is this so?

We shall, God willing, discuss further on Wednesday.

If you have any questions concerning the three words, please let me know in the comment section.

Till I post the second lesson on Wednesday, God willing!