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Is it true that if I say: "I've had 5 cups of coffee today" I intend to drink more today and if I say: "I had 5 cups of coffee today" I am not going to drink any more coffee today?

I find this really confusing, because present perfect talks about what has happened until now. If I've had 5 cups of coffee today, it will remain true until the end of the day even if I'm not going to drink any more coffee.

anouk
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  • There isnt really a way to tell whether one intends to drink more coffee today if you use "have had" I think. Read EllieK's comment v – DialFrost Apr 18 '22 at 13:47
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    I have had five cups of coffee today, does not mean you intend to drink more. It only means that you might drink more. If you have had five cups of coffee today, that will remain true until the end of the day. However, when we tell other people how much coffee we drank today we tell the total amount to this moment. If I drank ten cups of coffee today, I can say I drank two cups of coffee today, which is true but inaccurate in the context of discussing coffee drinking. – EllieK Apr 18 '22 at 13:47
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    @EllieK 'I have had five cups of coffee today' does not 'mean' that you might have more. Of course, it is trivially true that you 'might' do anything later today but the words quoted do not contain any implication either way. – Michael Harvey Apr 18 '22 at 13:55
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    @anouk - if you drink ten cups of coffee today, saying afterwards 'I have drunk five cups of coffee' is true in a certain sense, but misleading and unnatural. – Michael Harvey Apr 18 '22 at 13:57
  • @EllieK Any reason you chose the past simple: "I drank ten cups of coffee today"? – anouk Apr 18 '22 at 15:14
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    @anouk I find "I had five cups of coffee today" unnatural. Had is the past tense, but today implies the present, or an ongoing event. You might say "I had five cups of coffee yesterday", because that is entirely in the past, but not "today". – stangdon Apr 18 '22 at 15:36
  • @stangdon - It would only be natural if you were reporting your intake of coffee at the end of the day. – Kate Bunting Apr 18 '22 at 16:01
  • @Kate Bunting But even if it is the end of the day you have had 5 cups that day. Or is past simple the only possibility at the end of the day? – anouk Apr 18 '22 at 16:24
  • I meant that a late hour when you were definitely not going to have another cup is the only time that it makes sense to use 'I had' with 'today' (in response to stangdon's comment that it was unnatural). – Kate Bunting Apr 18 '22 at 16:31
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    @Kate Bunting Yes, but could I still say: "I've had 5 cups today" when it is the end of the day and I'm not going to drink any more? – anouk Apr 18 '22 at 16:35
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    Yes, certainly you could. – Kate Bunting Apr 18 '22 at 19:06
  • Does this answer your question? Confused! Are there any differences between "I have to go", "I had to go", "I've had to go", "I get to go", "I got to go", "I've got to go"? – Peter Jennings Apr 23 '22 at 13:11
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    @PeterJennings how is this question a duplicate of the older one you selected? How is I've had (I had) five coffees today related to I've had/got (I had) to go. That both posts are confused over the same tenses does not qualify it as being a duplicate. The meanings are quite different. – Mari-Lou A Apr 23 '22 at 16:55

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No. If you say I had five cups of coffee today it suggests that you don't intend to drink more, but does not definitely imply it.

If you say I have had five cups of coffee today it says absolutely nothing about whether you may have more or not.

Colin Fine
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  • The crucial word to imply you will / might have more coffee today is *already. In which context it's worth noting that it's perfectly natural to append / include already* in Present Perfect I've already* had five cups of coffee today*, but it's not really idiomatic to do this with your first (Simple Past) version. – FumbleFingers Apr 18 '22 at 14:51
  • @Colin Fine So it is perfectly fine to say: "I've had 5 cups of coffee today" even if you don't intend to drink more today? – anouk Apr 18 '22 at 15:12
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    @anouk: yes, that's perfectly fine. – Colin Fine Apr 18 '22 at 22:34