Have had

Question

I have had many friends, but now I have none.

Jag har haft många vänner, men nu har jag ingen.

In Longyearbyen can I have myself a new house.

I Longyearbyen kan jag har mig en nya hus.

I can have a new house in Longyearbyen.

is OK?

Blue Jay · Accepted Answer

AnonymousI have had many friends, but now I have none.

Sounds fine.

AnonymousI can have a new house in Longyearbyen.

Sounds fine.

AnonymousIn Longyearbyen can I have myself a new house.

No, this one doesn't work.
(I don't speak Swedish, so you are on your own with the translation. I'm just commenting on the English phrases)

Anonymous · Answer

I think Swedish looks nicer than English on paper.

I think Swedish looks nicer than English written down.

I think English spoken formally sounds nicer.

Deadrat · Answer

I'm sorry that you're friendless, but the first sentence is grammatical.

"Can" means is able to, and the word order "can I have" signals a question, even though you didn't end your sentence with a question mark. "Have," meaning to possess, does not take a reflexive pronoun ("myself") with a noun as a direct object ("house"). This would work with an infinitive: "I have myself to blame," but not with a house. You may however, use an intensive pronoun this: "I myself." Putting these things together, we come up with a very odd question:

In Longyearbyen, can I myself have a new house?

Whom would you ask whether you (and you in particular) are able to own a house in Longyearbyen? The last sentence has word order "I can have," which signals a declarative statement. I can imagine this as part of the following conversation:

A: I know you don't have any friends, but why would you move to Longyearbyen?
B: Because I can have a new house in Longyearbyen.

The position of the prepositional phrase doesn't matter here, so you can just as well say

B: Because in Longyearbyen, I can have a new house.

Anonymous · Answer

Your post highlights some of the dissimilarities between English and Swedish. Do any of you teachers speak Swedish by any chance?

In Swedish, it is natural to say:

I am learning myself Swedish.

Jag lära mig Svenska

It should be noted that in Swedish, there is no progressive present tense as there is in English: I am eating becomes Jag äter in Swedish. Also, the reflexive pronoun 'myself' makes the literal English translation completely wrong, if not extremely unnatural.

My question is:

In Swedish, is it natural to have "I Longyearbyen, kan jag har mig en nya hus" as a declarative statement? This would in English translate into "In Longyearbyen, I can have/get a new house."

Blue Jay · Answer

AnonymousI think Swedish looks nicer than English on paper.I think Swedish looks nicer than English written down.I think English spoken formally sounds nicer.

All are good.
Swedish looks like a cool language.

Blue Jay · Answer

AnonymousDo any of you teachers speak Swedish by any chance?

I think Cool Breeze does. You could ask him.

Have had

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions