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 #2 (permalink) Thu Jul 16, 2009 18:55 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Catlord wrote: |
However, I still can see sentences like, "I'm having a baby." or "I'm having a problem with..." on some website pages. (Then, it means to have something here, huh?)
So, can I say something like "I'm having a new car.", maybe in some particular situation?
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The word "to have" has several meanings.
One of them is "to possess; own; hold for use," in this meaning "have" usually is not used in the progressive tense; another meaning is "to experience, undergo, or endure, as joy or pain" in this meaning "have" can be progressive.
I am having a baby - I am in a process of giving birth to a baby.
I am having a problem with - I am in a process of figuring out how to resove the issue.
"I am having a new car" is doubtful. Are you actually giving birth to your new car?
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 Milanya
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| #3 (permalink) Fri Jul 17, 2009 16:10 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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Well, may I interpret this sentence as following,
I am having a "new" car. - I am in a PROCESS, which I am to experience this car in its "new" condition.
I do know it seems weird to say that, but in this kind of situation, can we say so?
I mean this NEW car eventually will become an old car as time goes by.
In this way, why can't we say, I'm having a new something "RIGHT NOW"? 
Or once we own something, we can simply use simple tense.
Thanx very much.  |
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Catlord
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| #4 (permalink) Fri Jul 17, 2009 18:39 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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NO you can't, as Milanya quite correctly says.
You could say, "I'm having a new car delivered next week."
You could say, " I'm going to have a new car soon."
But you cannot be having a new car .......... without some further context.
If Milanya says it is so, it is so, believe me. 
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Kitosdad
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| #5 (permalink) Fri Jul 17, 2009 22:12 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Milanya wrote: |
| I am having a baby - I am in a process of giving birth to a baby. |
Where I come from the majority use for that means "I am pregnant". To mean give birth one would have to say "She's having the baby right now".
| Milanya wrote: |
| "I am having a new car" is doubtful. |
Why? "Having" in this sentence is not stative. How about "My poor jalopy is going to the great car park in the sky and I'm having a new car"? |
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Tele Addict
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| #6 (permalink) Fri Jul 17, 2009 22:40 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Tele Addict wrote: |
| Milanya wrote: |
| I am having a baby - I am in a process of giving birth to a baby. |
Where I come from the majority use for that means "I am pregnant". To mean give birth one would have to say "She's having the baby right now". |
Both interpretations are correct. Context and the woman's screams should make it quite clear which variation is meant.
| Tele Addict wrote: |
| Milanya wrote: |
| "I am having a new car" is doubtful. |
Why? "Having" in this sentence is not stative. How about "My poor jalopy is going to the great car park in the sky and I'm having a new car"? |
As Milanya and Kitosdad have said, and I'll chime in with a 3rd agreement, 'having a car' is not an acceptable collocation by itself.
Perhaps if a pregnant mother was trying to humorously comment on the size of her baby, then she could say 'I'm having a car'. This is about the only scenario I can think of where somebody could say 'I'm having a car' and not sound totally nonsensical.
The only way to use it is with further elaboration, as Kitos mentioned, detailing what you're having done to the car.
'I'm having the car cleaned'
"I'm having the car fumigated'
'I'm having the car repainted'
'I'm having the car repaired'
'I'm having the car towed'.
Etc.
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Skrej
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| #7 (permalink) Sat Jul 18, 2009 16:52 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Skrej wrote: |
| As Milanya and Kitosdad have said, and I'll chime in with a 3rd agreement, 'having a car' is not an acceptable collocation by itself. |
There's nothing grammatically wrong with it and it sounds fine to my ear. Maybe you don't like it because you are from the US. |
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Tele Addict
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| #8 (permalink) Sat Jul 18, 2009 16:59 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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"Maybe you don't like it because you are from the US." Not a sensible comment TA.
And I don't like it, and I'm from the UK, so now who else can you turn the blame on?
Face facts, it's grammatically wrong. EOS.
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Kitosdad
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| #9 (permalink) Sat Jul 18, 2009 17:18 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Kitosdad wrote: |
| Face facts, it's grammatically wrong. EOS. |
What's your argument? Mine is that it's not stative. You can say "I'm having an ice cream" so why not a new car. Are you saying my sentence in post #5 is wrong? |
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Tele Addict
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| #10 (permalink) Sat Jul 18, 2009 20:08 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Tele Addict wrote: |
Where I come from the majority use for that means "I am pregnant". To mean give birth one would have to say "She's having the baby right now".
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I do not know where you come from, but to my ears "I am expecting a baby" means "I am pregnant," and "I am having a baby" means " I am in labor."
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Milanya
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| #11 (permalink) Sat Jul 18, 2009 20:57 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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Hello everyone,
I'll chime in here with a fourth confirmation that the sentence "I'm having a car" is neither correct nor natural. I agree with Milanya, Kitosdad and Skrej.
The verb "have" when used with a meaning similar to own/possess is not used in continuous tenses. As has been already mentioned, however, the verb "have" can be used with a variety of different meanings, and some of those can be used in continuous verb forms.
| Tele Addict wrote: |
| What's your argument? Mine is that it's not stative. |
That's the problem. The meaning of "have" IS stative when the meaning is "own" or "possess". Or are you trying to say it has some other meaning? If so, what meaning are you suggesting it has?
If you need further convincing, have a look at this link:
http://esl.about.com/od/grammarintermediate/a/noncontinuous.htm
Scroll down to "Other states" and you will see that verbs such as belong, own and possess are listed there. The only reason that "have" is not listed there specifically is that "have" is not used exclusively as a stative verb. It also has active meanings, such as "eat", for example.
I agree with Skrej and Tele Addict that "I'm having a baby" can be used to mean either "I am expecting a baby"/"I am pregnant" OR "I am currently in the process of giving birth to my baby." The broader context should make it crystal clear which meaning is intended.
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Esl_Expert
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| #12 (permalink) Sun Jul 19, 2009 9:14 am have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Esl_Expert wrote: |
| That's the problem. The meaning of "have" IS stative when the meaning is "own" or "possess". Or are you trying to say it has some other meaning? If so, what meaning are you suggesting it has? |
In this context I believe it means take.
In the OP's sentence "having" as a substitute for future tense.
What are you having?...
I'm having a girl.
I'm having an ice cream.
I'm having a new car. |
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Tele Addict
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| #13 (permalink) Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:08 am have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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i have to eat banana
i am having a banana
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Honey2
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| #14 (permalink) Sun Jul 19, 2009 22:11 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Tele Addict wrote: |
| In this context I believe it means take. |
That simply is not idiomatic. You might use "have" in the sense of "take" when you say "have/take a look at something", for example, but "have a car" will be interpreted as meaning "own/possess a car".
| Tele Addict wrote: |
In the OP's sentence "having" as a substitute for future tense.
What are you having?...
I'm having a girl. The meaning of this is highly context-dependent. With no additional context, this might be used to mean any number of things, but have=take is not something that springs to mind.
I'm having an ice cream. I would interpret this to mean either "I am eating ice cream now", or "I am going to eat/order ice cream (in the future)".
I'm having a new car. To me, this simply sounds like a learner error, or an unfinished sentence. |
The only thing that seems remotely possible to me is a possible use of the future continuous:
- I will be having a new car sometime next week.
I might possibly interpret that to mean "I will be taking possession of a new car sometime next week" or "I will be in continuous/regular possession of a new car starting next week."
However, I would say this has more to do with a specific specialized use of the future continuous than with anything else.
Out of curiosity, Tele Addict, what is your native language?
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Esl_Expert
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| #15 (permalink) Sun Jul 19, 2009 22:22 pm have, how to use "have" in Present Continuous |
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| Tele Addict wrote: |
| Esl_Expert wrote: |
| That's the problem. The meaning of "have" IS stative when the meaning is "own" or "possess". Or are you trying to say it has some other meaning? If so, what meaning are you suggesting it has? |
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| Tele Addict wrote: |
| In this context I believe it means take. |
I think I may understand the source of your confusion. While it's true that BrE sometimes uses 'have' where AmE uses 'take', that's not the case here. Note that you've gotten confirmation of this from both BrE and AmE speakers, who all agree that your collocation of 'having a car' simply won't work.
| Tele Addict wrote: |
| In the OP's sentence "having" as a substitute for future tense. |
Yes, the Present Continuous can be used for the near future, but can also be for longer actions still in progress.
However, it's unclear if the OP means to use the Present Continuous for future use or not.
| Catlord wrote: |
| I know when it means to eat something, and then we can say, I'm having dinner. |
Here, the speaker could be eating dinner now, or discussing plans for the near future, i.e. I'm having dinner (at 8:30 with my friend).
| Catlord wrote: |
| However, I still can see sentences like, "I'm having a baby." |
This could be happening now, or a longer action carried over time, still in progress.
Consider 'I'm studying to be a doctor.' - the speaker may or may not be actually studying right now, but it's obviously a work in progress. Likewise for "having" a baby.
| Catlord wrote: |
| or "I'm having a problem with..." on some website pages. (Then, it means to have something here, huh?) |
Ditto, this could be a problem right now, or a problem the speaker has had consistently now for a while over time. (Note that a 4th use of Present Continous is with 'always', to reflect repetition and irritation 'I'm always having a problem with ___).
| Catlord wrote: |
| So, can I say something like "I'm having a new car.", maybe in some particular situation? |
No, as has been stated and clarified.
| Tele Addict wrote: |
What are you having?...
I'm having a girl. Yes, could either be at the moment now, or referring to the entire pregnancy. ("Do you know what you're having? Yes, I'm having a girl.)
I'm having an ice cream. Yes, could either be at the moment now, or referring to near future. (Although this usage lends itself more to the present action sense)
Also, in this context, "What are you having?" could be used as a question meaning "Which (flavor, food, beverage, etc.) would you like?"
I'm having a new car. Sorry, but regardless of time frame, there's no way to construe 'having' as 'taking' here. It just isn't an acceptable usage. |
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