we had no problems vs. we hadn't ant problems

[Jon]

Hello,

Sentences:
s1 we had no problems
s2 we hadn't any problems

Issues:
i1 I understand that s2 is correct. And I checked it in a grammar book
i2 but Why s2 is incorrect?

Thanks in advance

[Yankee]

Hi Jon

Yes, your first sentence is correct and also natural (except for the missing capitalization and punctuation, that is. ;)).

Your second sentence may be technically correct, but it certainly would not sound very natural in American English. It would be better and more natural to say "We didn't have any problems."
.
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Michauek]

[Yankee]

Hi Michauek

[Torsten]

I'm not a Brit but I do know that "We didn't have any problems" is more common and modern than "We hadn't any problems" in British English. Now I guess it's time to find somebody from Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and CNN to tell us what they think about this question.

TOEIC listening, photographs: Queuing for propane gas

[Michauek]

I was looking for it in my English-Grammar book and it says that, for instance, " I don't have a brother" is typical for both AmEnglish and BrEnglish, but the big influence on it had AmEnglish and language development or whatever :D " I haven't got a brother" was originally use, so maybe, as Amy said, it may sound archaic.
_________________
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde
Michal. I'm an english student :-)

[Yankee]

Hi Michauek

Please note that I did not say that 'have got' sounds archaic.
There were two different issues discussed in this thread:

1. the negation of 'have' without using do, does or did (which was what Jon asked about in the first question in this thread)

2. the use of 'have got' as a synonym for 'have' (which was not part of the first question in the thread)
.
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Lost_Soul]

Hi, Amy

I know of another way of saying that:
I ain got no problems :lol:

[Pamela]

Hi Alex
As far as I know, ain as akin to have doesn't exist. Maybe, I am off-beam :lol:

[Yankee]

[Lost_Soul]

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant, but that "t" letter is not pronounced, is it? :)

I even witnessed a triple negation: I don't own no one of my family nothing by Marshal Bruce Mathers, aka Eminem

[Michauek]

[1111166666]

jon - to me the second sentence doesn't sound right nor natural. However, if the books says it's right, then i guess it might be. I would use the first one, "We had no problems"

(Torsten :I'm not a Brit but I do know that "We didn't have any problems" is more common and modern than "We hadn't any problems" in British English. Now I guess it's time to find somebody from Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and CNN to tell us what they think about this question.)

I agree with you Torsten. I'm Australian and i would say "We didn't have any problems" or even "There were no problems".