had had five computers

[navi tasan]

1) He had had five computers before buying the new one. Now he has six.

2) He had had five computers before selling the one he sold to you, so now he must have four.

Are the above correct?

I use the simple past instead of the past perfect, but I was wondering if the past perfect could be used as well.

 

[Tarheel]

It doesn't make sense to me. What would be your reason for using past perfect there?

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd use the past simple in both.
He had five computers = There were five computers

In #1, if you removed "Now he has six" and were using "had had" to mean "had owned" (and he now owns only the one he most recently bought) then the past perfect would be fine.