the flu

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I have the flu. OR
I have flu.

Is there any reason why 'flu' needs an article?

Thanks.

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Type: Question • Score: 5 • Views: 918 • Replies: 20

[+4] - ehBeth - 01/28/2017I have a cold. He has the flu. She has pneumonia. English is weird and sometimes you just have to learn and memorize the specific protocols. Expecting it to make sense isn't realistic.
[+4] - Region Philbis - 01/28/2017 i've never heard anyone say "i have flu."
[+3] - ehBeth - 01/28/2017You wouldn't hear that in most English-speaking countries. It sounds like an old-fashioned bit of dialect. One of the things the OP needs to look at is which form of English is most commonly...

Using 'the' before the names of certain illnesses is acceptable but old fashioned.

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@centrox,

centrox wrote:

Using 'the' before the names of certain illnesses is acceptable but old fashioned.

Thank you.

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I have a cold.
He has the flu.
She has pneumonia.

English is weird and sometimes you just have to learn and memorize the specific protocols.

Expecting it to make sense isn't realistic.

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@tanguatlay,

i've never heard anyone say "i have flu."

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@Region Philbis,

Region Philbis wrote:

i've never heard anyone say "i have flu."

Very common where I live (Britain), alternatively "I've got flu".

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@centrox,

You wouldn't hear that in most English-speaking countries. It sounds like an old-fashioned bit of dialect.

One of the things the OP needs to look at is which form of English is most commonly used. International Business English tends to follow American style whether or not we like it (annoys me fairly often). It's the same thing with French. Many dialects - one style is preferred for business use.

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@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

You wouldn't hear that in most English-speaking countries. It sounds like an old-fashioned bit of dialect.

Which? I have the flu, I have flu, or I've got flu?

I would localise using 'the' before certain disease names in time, to the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some rather dubious grammar guides, however, allege that you have to use 'the' for certain diseases: the measles, the flu, the mumps, the bubonic plague. (The list varies.) I would differ and say it is optional but only for certain diseases, common childhood ones, perhaps. Nobody says (I think), or said, "I've got the cancer" or "the typhoid". There is a Northern English children's playground chant that starts "I had the scarlet fever, I had it very bad". Also, in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Jo says to Beth: "You've had the scarlet fever, haven't you?". (Poor Beth! I found her death very affecting at the age of 9.)

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Cambridge Dictionary

to catch/get/have (the) flu

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@tanguatlay,

tanguatlay wrote:

Cambridge Dictionary

to catch/get/have (the) flu

The brackets enclose an optional variation.

1 Reply

@centrox,

centrox wrote:

tanguatlay wrote:

Cambridge Dictionary
to catch/get/have (the) flu

The brackets enclose an optional variation.

I'm aware of that. That's why I have highlighted 'the'.

1 Reply

@tanguatlay,

tanguatlay wrote:

centrox wrote:

tanguatlay wrote:

Cambridge Dictionary
to catch/get/have (the) flu

The brackets enclose an optional variation.

I'm aware of that. That's why I have highlighted 'the'.

I know you are aware of that. I was mentioning it for the benefit of other English learners who might happen to read this page.

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@centrox,

centrox wrote:

ehBeth wrote:
You wouldn't hear that in most English-speaking countries. It sounds like an old-fashioned bit of dialect.

Which? I have the flu, I have flu, or I've got flu?

these sound like old-fashioned dialect to me

I have flu, or I've got flu?

1 Reply

@centrox,

centrox wrote:

I know you are aware of that. I was mentioning it for the benefit of other English learners who might happen to read this page.

it would be more useful if they noted which options are standard to the US and which are standard to the UK

it would help people who need to know which option to choose for international business writing

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apropos of nothing, Tiny Tim once wrote a song called Santa Claus has got the AIDS This Year...

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@ehBeth,

They may do, but saying I've got/have the flu is quite common throughout Britain.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

They may do, but saying I've got/have the flu is quite common throughout Britain.

And leaving out 'the' is very common too. You might say "I have flu" or "I've got flu" on the phone to your boss when calling in, and people often use the past tense 'had' - I had measles/flu/pancreatitis/glandular fever/gallstones, whatever. My wife had norovirus just before Christmas. I don't see why I deserved a vote down.

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@tanguatlay,

If you use influenza rather than flu, there is no "the".

1 Reply

@centrox,

You've put someone's nose out of joint. Don't think about it, that's all it bloody is.

0 Replies

@TomTomBinks,

Depends on whose saying. Gordon Brown once referred to a popular soap as the Eastenders.

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