has/have a cold

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I'm having a cold,
I have a cold.

Can I use the first sentence when I am in the clinic with the doctor or should I use the second?

Many thanks.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 3 • Views: 615 • Replies: 9

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The second one is correct.

And I hope you feel better soon!

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Thanks, Mac.

Coincidentally, I have got a cold.

Is 'have got' correct?

Many thanks.

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"Have got" a cold is acceptable in conversation

I have a cold
I have got a cold

-- but --

I am having a baby. (1. I am pregnant 2. I am in labour.)

-- and --

I have a baby (I am the parent of a baby.)

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"have got" is technically incorrect. But in conversation even I don't pay attention to the rules.

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Thanks, fellow members, for your reply.

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NickFun wrote:

"have got" is technically incorrect. But in conversation even I don't pay attention to the rules.

Yes, you do, Nick, pay attention to the rules that is. All English speakers, actually speakers of every language pay attention to the real rules of their language. The nonsense about 'have got' isn't a rule at all. It is, well, a bit of nonsense.

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Re: has/have a cold

tanguatlay wrote:

I'm having a cold,
I have a cold.

Can I use the first sentence when I am in the clinic with the doctor or should I use the second?

Many thanks.

'correct/incorrect' are not very apt words for these types of situations. It's just not idiomatic to talk about a cold, which is viewed as a state, in the progressive. Other languages may well do so.

Walter, Calamity Jane, Thomas, can one use the present progressive/continuous in this fashion in German?

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One technically can, but it's not idiomatic at all. If you say, "Ich bin eine Erkaeltung habend", Germans will understand the sentence, and its grammar is technically valid. But no German talks that way.

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Thomas wrote:

One technically can, but it's not idiomatic at all. If you say, "Ich bin eine Erkaeltung habend", Germans will understand the sentence, and its grammar is technically valid. But no German talks that way.

Thanks, Thomas.

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has/have a cold

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