catch a cold

Hi,

1. She's catching a cold.

2. She's caught a cold.

What's the difference in meaning between the two sentences? Consider a slightly simpler example.

1. She's painting her kitchen. The work is not finished at the time of speaking, it is still continuing.

2

Hi,

1. She's catching a cold. It takes a little time to develop cold symptoms. She has started to get a cold, but the cold is not yet 'completely in her body'.

3. She has a cold. She 'possesses' a cold. She has all the symptoms.

Best wishes, Clive

Hi Clive,

1. She's catching a cold. It takes a little time to develop cold symptoms. She has started to get a cold, but the cold is not yet 'completely in her body'.

Though it is 100% correct, would you - native speakers - ever use it in a "real life" situation?

It's true that "catching a cold" is a rather insidious process... [sneeze!] Either you (realize that you) have it or not. Maybe a mother could tell her child: "Honey, it's raining! Come on inside, you've already sneezed twice, you're catching a cold!"

PieanneIt's true that "catching a cold" is a rather insidious process... [sneeze!] Either you (realize that you) have it or not. Maybe a mother could tell her child: "Honey, it's raining! Come on inside, you've already sneezed twice, you're catching a cold!"

Good example but I still think that it's too improbable to hear

Yes, that or "you'll catch a cold!"

You obviously can't say "she's catching a cold" like "she's reading a book", unless you're one of the tiny viruses or whatever inside the body ...

I've heard people say

"I'm catching a cold".

Rightly or wrongly, I understood that to mean that

Symptoms have started to show up, but the cold is by no means in its final stages. The speaker expects the cold to get worse, maybe a lot worse, before it gets better.

Oh, yes, that's possible, because they feel the cold settling in.

Another native speaker chiming in - yes, even though you already have the virus and therefore technically have already "caught" the cold, when you start to feel the symptoms settling in, we say "Oh no. I thing I'm catching (or getting) a cold."