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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
English-tenses
What is the correct sentence out of these two?
She hasn't a car/She doesn't have a car.
She hasn't a car/She doesn't have a car.
Top answer
" is unnatural when the sense is of simple, literal possession of an object, as in your sentence. It may be possible when the possession is of a more abstract nature ("She hasn't a hint of malice", "She hasn't a thought of marrriage"). This usage tends towards the literary rather than the conversational.
- " is unnatural when the sense is of simple, literal possession of an object, as in your sentence.
- It may be possible when the possession is of a more abstract nature ("She hasn't a hint of malice", "She hasn't a thought of marrriage").
- This usage tends towards the literary rather than the conversational.
- " is also used, as an alternative to "doesn't have" or "hasn't got", in certain stock phrases such as "She hasn't a clue".
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1 Answers
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You could say:
"She doesn't have a car"
"She hasn't got a car" (very common in everyday British English, but not appropriate in formal writing)
"She hasn't a..." is unnatural when the sense is of simple, literal possession of an object, as in your sentence. It may be possible when the possession is of a more abstract nature ("She hasn't a hint of malice", "She hasn't a
"She doesn't have a car"
"She hasn't got a car" (very common in everyday British English, but not appropriate in formal writing)
"She hasn't a..." is unnatural when the sense is of simple, literal possession of an object, as in your sentence. It may be possible when the possession is of a more abstract nature ("She hasn't a hint of malice", "She hasn't a
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