have been or had been?

[goodness]

Hi everyone

i have five question and i hope you would help me.

1 - i couldn't see the difference between ( i have been ) & ( i had been ).
For instance:

i had seen her
i have seen her


2 - are these two sentences correct :

has the flight time changed? ( i want to ask about flight time if it's changed or not )

have you had your lunch?
if the next question ( about lunch ) is correct what's the answer will be??
yes i have it or yes i had it?


3 - is there any rule for ( the ) ? because i don't know when should i use - the - and when i shouldn't.

4 - which of these is correct

we had been married?
we were married?

5 - this word ( sold out ) can i use it in resturant and everywhere else?? or it's just for ticket?



thank you in advance

[Pete]

1 - i couldn't see the difference between ( i have been ) & ( i had been ).
For instance:

I had seen her [This is past perfect.]
I have seen her [This is present perfect.]
Both of these are correct; you use them in different situations.

You need to study the uses of the different verb tenses. You can start here:
http://englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html

For these 2 tenses in particular, see:
Present perfect: http://englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html
Past perfect: http://englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html


2 - are these two sentences correct :

has the flight time changed? ( i want to ask about flight time if it's changed or not )

have you had your lunch?
if the next question ( about lunch ) is correct what's the answer will be??
yes i have it or yes i had it?
Both of these questions are correct. Here are your two proposed replies to the second and also a third suggestion:
- Yes, i have it. [No. This is simple present; it does not fit the question.]
- Yes, i had it. [OK. This is simple past.]
- Yes, I have had it. [OK. This fits the question best. It is present perfect.]

3 - is there any rule for ( the ) ? because i don't know when should i use - the - and when i shouldn't.
Unfortunately, there is no single specific rule; there are some general rules that are often helpful. You can find a discussion of this subject at a site I often refer to. The specific link is:
> http://cctc.commnet.edu/grammar/determiners/determiners.htm#articles

4 - which of these is correct

we had been married?
we were married?
Both of these are correct. In some places you could use either. In others, one or the other fits.

Note: "We were married" has 2 distinct meanings. If "married" is used as a complement, you might say, "We were married for 14 years." (That how long the marriage lasted.) If "married" is used as part of a passive verb, you might say, "We were married in 1998." (That is when the marriage ceremony took place.)

5 - this word ( sold out ) can i use it in restaurant and everywhere else?? or it's just for ticket?
Yes, it can be used in a variety of settings:
- I wanted to buy that new game, but the store was sold out.
- The restaurant was sold out of Peking duck when I tried to order it last night.

[goodness]

Mr Pete

i'm so grateful.
your explanation is very clear. And i'll spend some time today with links you copied .

tghanks again