|
|
 #2 (permalink) Tue Jun 10, 2008 17:21 pm Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
For me, all three are OK:
if I have/get the chance to...
if I have/get a chance to...
if I have/get chance to... |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #3 (permalink) Tue Jun 10, 2008 18:39 pm "have chance"? |
|
|
Hi Nessie
Your sentence does not sound natural to me. I'd add an article and also the word 'to'.
. |
|
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
|
 |
| #4 (permalink) Tue Jun 10, 2008 23:36 pm "have chance"? |
|
|
| Yankee wrote: |
Hi Nessie
Your sentence does not sound natural to me. I'd add an article and also the word 'to'.
. |
Do these sound unnatural to you, Amy?
-"As the parachute failed on re-entry, a man hanging out of a helicopter wielding a big hook didn't have chance to grab the falling object. ..."
-"Funny enough, the move happened so fast that I didn't have chance to talk to Kieran about coming here."
-"James Ray didn’t get chance to explain why it took him nine years to manifest his appearance on Oprah" |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #5 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 0:22 am Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
| nessie wrote: |
Hi,
Can we say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"?
Or is it compulsory to use "have a chance" because "chance" is a countable noun?
Many thanks
Nessie. |
I would agree with Amy: add article + "to".
Best wishes,
MrP |
|
MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1319
Location: Southern England
|
|
| #6 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 0:28 am Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
| Why the article? Isn't "if you get/have chance, ..." common in spoken BrEng? |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #7 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:55 am "have chance"? |
|
|
| Molly wrote: |
| Do these sound unnatural to you, Amy? |
Those have included the word 'to', so part of the problem is gone. However, my reaction to get/have chance as used in your sentences is simply "typo" (i.e. there was an unintentional omission of an article).
. |
|
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
|
|
| #8 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:05 am "have chance"? |
|
|
I found the article that you blindly took one of your sentences from. In that very same article there are:
- 6 usages of "get/got the chance"
- 1 usage of "got a chance"
- 1 usage of "hope for a chance"
- 1 usage of "gave him his chance"
- 1 usage of "had my chance"
- typographical error: "have chance"
- typographical error: "get everything dome"
I don't know whether there are more typos in that article or not. I really don't feel like doing any more of the research you apparently can't be bothered to do.
. |
|
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
|
|
| #9 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:44 am Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
| Quote: |
| I don't know whether there are more typos in that article or not. I really don't feel like doing any more of the research you apparently can't be bothered to do |
.
Strange reply. Are you saying that "gotten/got/have chance to..." are not acceptable in AmEng in both (the) written and spoken forms?
| Quote: |
| However, my reaction to get/have chance as used in your sentences is simply "typo" (i.e. there was an unintentional omission of an article). |
But we're not talking about the written for, are we? We are talking about the written-spoken form and the spoken form. The thread example is:
Can we say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"?
I imagine the thread starter is asking about a piece of spoken language, don't you? So typos are out of the picture. It seems you've not commonly heard "gotten/get/have chance to..." in spoken AmEng. I've heard it many times in BrEng, and from speakers from all walks of life. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #10 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 15:58 pm Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
Thanks a lot, everybody 
First of all, sorry for my typo of missing of word "to" (It's completely a typo, so let's say no more about it )
As for "had/get chance to do sth", through your ideas, I've got the point now. It's not correct in formal written English, but can be used in informal spoken English?
Now I just have one more question: Which of these two is more commonly used:
- If I had the chance to travel to London, I'll pay her a vist.
- If I had a chance to travel to London, I'll pay her a visit.
Many thanks
Nessie
_________________
 ... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..
Sorry seems to be the hardest word... |
|
 Nessie
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 1102
|
|
| #11 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 16:03 pm Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
| Quote: |
| It's not correct in formal written English, but can be used in informal spoken English? |
Or even in semi-formal English. 
BNC:
had a chance to - 260 per million words
had the chance to - 119 per million words
American Corpus:
had a chance to - 2066 per million words
had the chance to - 370 per million words
Maybe give you an idea. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #12 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 16:16 pm Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
| nessie wrote: |
As for "had/get chance to do sth", through your ideas, I've got the point now. It's not correct in formal written English, but can be used in informal spoken English? It's not anything I hear used in AmE. So, I don't find it "acceptable" in informal AmE either. As for BE, I'd recommend you follow MrP's advice.
Now I just have one more question: Which of these two is more commonly used:
- If I had the chance to travel to London, I'll pay her a vist.
- If I had a chance to travel to London, I'll pay her a visit.
Neither. In combination with 'had' in the IF clause, the use of 'will' in the other half of your sentence is neither standard nor does it sound like an "informal" non-standard usage to me. |
|
|
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
|
|
| #13 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 16:33 pm Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Neither. In combination with 'had' in the IF clause, the use of 'will' in the other half of your sentence is neither standard nor does it sound like and "informal" non-standard usage to me. |
I think you may find that the question was about "had A chance to" versus "had THE chance to". |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #14 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 16:34 pm Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
| Quote: |
| It's not anything I hear used in AmE. So, I don't find it "acceptable" in informal AmE either. As for BE, I'd recommend you follow MrP's advice. |
And follow my advice if you want to know something about spoken grammar. |
|
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
|
|
| #15 (permalink) Wed Jun 11, 2008 16:47 pm Can I say: "If I have chance go there, I'll pay her a visit"? |
|
|
| Molly wrote: |
| I think you may find that the question was about "had A chance to" versus "had THE chance to". |
You may be right, Molly, old boy. Assuming you are, why didn't you answer the question? Was your next post supposed to answer that question?
| Molly wrote: |
| And follow my advice if you want to know something about spoken grammar. |
.
.
Hi Nessie
I think "Molly" believes he can answer your question better than I can. So let's wait for his explanation of the difference between "had a chance" and "had the chance".
If I see things differently, I'll let you know.
. |
|
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA
|
|
|
| Sentence Correction: when I was studying B.tech, One of my Lecturer's speech... | "enough to decide" vs "ufficiently to decide" |
