Guess who?

Question

I was playing with a little friend of mine a sort of 'guess who?' game. I wanted to use the game to introduce some English in a natural way.

In order to ask questions about somebody's appearances I used the formula ' does s/he have blond hair/a beard/a pony-tail/ a pair of earplugs? etc...' but I wonder if I should have used 'have... got?' as in ' has s/he got blond hair/a beard/a pony-tail/ a pair of earplugs?'

Could you please clarify which one is better?
I am more familiar with British ENglish but I would be grateful if anybody could explain me which one is more correct and/or the most used?

Thank you for your help!

Vorpar · Accepted Answer

"Does s/he have...?" sounds more natural in AmE. I don't know which is preferred in BrE.

GPY · Answer

In BrE, "Has s/he got ... ?" is common colloquially. "Does s/he have ... ?" is also fine, and is better for more formal or polished language. It can also be used conversationally without any problem.

Diotima · Answer

Thank you for your help!

When would it be natural/appropriate to use 'have...got?'
Perhaps when we ask about belongings (e.g. have you got a car? / has s/he got any brothers or sisters)?

Thanks in advance

Diotima · Answer

...with regards to the previous post, your explanations were perfectly clear. I asked more extraclarification because sometimes students ask question I am not sure how to answer. Just not to find myself ...mmmm...how can I say, at 'loose ends' maybe ?

Cheers

Fivejedjon · Answer

diotimaWhen would it be natural/appropriate to use 'have...got?'

There are no clear guidelines when 'have' means what we could crudely call 'possession. It's a matter of personal choice. I am of the (dying) group that still uses 'have you ...?' 'Have you got ...?' is the normal BrE usage; it was once regarded as informal, but is now widely accepted. 'Do you have ...?', once thought of as a vulgar Americanism is also now widely accepted:

Have you a question for us?
Have you got a question for us?
Do you have a question for us?

When 'have' means 'experience/consume/etc' only 'do you have ... ?' is possible:

Do you have a full English breakfast every day?'

When 'have' is used as an auxiliary in the formation of perfect forms, only 'have you' is possible:

Have you seen John today?

GPY · Answer

fivejedjon'Do you have ...?', once thought of as a vulgar Americanism

Well, I never knew that ...

Fivejedjon · Answer

When I was at school in the 1950s and early 60s, most British teachers of English believed that that public school English as written in The Times and spoken on the BBC was the only pure form of the English language. The language of upper-class people from Inverness, Aberdeen or Edinburgh was just about acceptable (in Scotland), but all other British dialects were inferior. American English was quite simply a monstrosity. Brought up to believe this, I despised anybody I heard uttering the barbaric 'OK'. 'OK' was never seen in print, in those days except in trashy American crime novels that no respectable person would dream of reading.

"Have you ...?" was the only acceptable interrogative for respectable people. If we asked "Have you got ...?" we were criticised for using substandard language. If we asked "Do you have ...?", we were shot at dawn.

GPY · Answer

Thanks, this is an issue that seems to have completely passed me by.

Diotima · Answer

Thank you, I found the comments very informative!
I love English for the vastitude of its vocabulary and all the nuances it is possible to convey in one sentence. Though this also reminds me that (being not a native speaker) perhaps I will never be able to speak it perfectly

!

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