James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher

James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher is an English sentence that illustrates the need for punctuation, and the ambiguity of the word had.

Importance

The phrase is often used as a puzzle where you have to add punctuation to formulate it grammatically correct.

Supplemented by commas and quotation marks, the sentence is easier to understand:

"James, while John had had ' had ', had had ' had had '; ' had had ' had had a better effect on the teacher. "

This can be translated as a comparison of the solutions of two students in English class:

" While John for, had ' had decided, had James, had had ' chosen; , Had had ' had made more impression on the teacher. "