Have

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Hi, I have a question of "have" and need your help:

when I use it as "own" in an interrogative sentence and I want to express the meaning of "do you have any idea?", can I use it this way: "Have you any idea ?"

Thank you for you help.

DeepSouthRick · Accepted Answer

ESLBeginnerHi, I have a question of "have" and need your help:

when I use it as "own" in an interrogative sentence and I want to express the meaning of "do you have any idea?", can I use it this way: "Have you any idea ?"

Thank you for you help.

The second version is a not a preferred construction -- I wouldn't use it.

Also, there can be a subtle difference in meaning of "idea" and "ideas" in this type of sentence.

Do you have any idea? The singular "idea" is used in this sentence more as "concept." For example, "Do you have any idea what this will cost?"

Do you have any ideas? This usage is more at creativity of thought: "Do you have any ideas for improving this document?"

Rick

Anonymous · Answer

The last sentence is wrong, I would not speak like that, I would prefer:

"Do you have any idea?" or

"Have you got any idea?"

Ruslana · Answer

As far as I know, "Have you any idea?" is a very old BrE usage. Nowadays, you'll hardly hear it anywhere. In AmE, it has never been used at all.

Native BrE and AmE speakers, please correct me if I'm mistaken.

CalifJim · Answer

RuslanaAs far as I know, "Have you any idea?" is a very old BrE usage. Nowadays, you'll hardly hear it anywhere. In AmE, it has never been used at all.

Native BrE and AmE speakers, please correct me if I'm mistaken.

As far as I know, it is used much less often in AmE, but it is heard once in a while even here. It is understood in all varieties of English, even by speakers who would not normally generate it in their own speech.

CJ

DeepSouthRick · Answer

"Have you any idea?"

The only time I'd expect to hear that construction in AmE would be for a calculated effect, never in conversation. For example, it might used for comedic effect to illustrate a very unsophisticated speaker who was trying to sound very sophisticated -- and instead sounding very silly.

Rick

Avangi · Answer

I use it and my parents and relatives used it. I agree that it sounds a bit formal, and we all probably sounded silly to southerners and westerners.

Local L.A. talk show hosts love to make fun of the speech of our recently retired (and somewhat celebrated) police chief, who has managed to retain his Boston and New York accents and idioms.

The many students who use Friends as a speech model will discover that show biz people and script writers work very hard to unlearn any regional or sophisticated habits.

The Cheers series had one or two characters with mock Boston accents; and there was the blond girlfriend (Shelly Long, or something like that) who played the buffoon sophisticate.

But I was happy to note yesterday that I am not the only EF member who has brought his New Yorker magazine west with him.

CalifJim · Answer

Yes. I have to say that I don't find that expression sophisticated, pseudo-sophisticated, or silly -- just less common.

CJ

Avangi · Answer

DeepSouthRick The only time I'd expect to hear that construction in AmE would be for a calculated effect, never in conversation.

Hi, Rick, didn't mean to sound huffy.
We've had a few members who enjoy studying literature from past centuries, and their questions are often quite challenging, involving archaic usages. Some of the mods take exception to this and seem to support only the most current and common usages. (That's my impression, anyway.)
But I've never found any official statement that this is our policy. Granted, many ESL members are trying hard to learn effective communication in the business and social worlds of the 21st century. What to do?
Best regards, - A.

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