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Hole One a New See Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

'have a baby'

Hi everybody,

Let's suppose that I would like to use the word 'baby' (I don't want to substitute it with something else). I also want to express a possession.

Example: 'Judith had a baby (maybe the baby died of a disease).'

My problem is that there is the expression 'have a baby' (= give birth to a baby). How can I decide which sense is the appropriate one? Furthermore, let's suppose that we don't have a context to simplify this problem. Should we use only 'have got' if we would like to express possession (instead of the simple 'have')?

Thanks for your help in advance.
  

Top answer

You are right that Judith had a baby is somewhat ambiguous without context. But in reality, we would simply ensure that there was the necessary context. Clive

— Clive

  • You are right that Judith had a baby is somewhat ambiguous without context.
  • But in reality, we would simply ensure that there was the necessary context.
  • Clive
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4 Answers
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You are right that Judith had a baby is somewhat ambiguous without context. But in reality, we would simply ensure that there was the necessary context.

Clive
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Hole One a New SeeShould we use only 'have got' if we would like to express possession (instead of the simple 'have')?
That would not be very good in the past: She had got a baby. Depending on the context you might also be able to use She used to have a baby. Other than that you're stuck with the ambiguity.
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