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Marttie Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Have you/I haven't a car. ?

Dear native speakers of English Emotion: wink, how is it with the forms "I haven't* a car" and "*Have youa car"? I presume they are gramatically incorrect (should be either "I don't have/Do you have" or "I haven't got/Have you got", right?). However, they can be heard spoken by natives themselves - so I don't know how much I should insist on my students avoiding them Emotion: wink Thanks in advance for your advice Emotion: smile
  

Top answer

There is no problem of grammar here. Either form is accpetable. It is simply a question of style.

— ScottishFrank

  • There is no problem of grammar here.
  • Either form is accpetable.
  • It is simply a question of style.
  • The only form which seems "wrong" would be "I have not a car" although I believe this may have been used in older English.
  • ) "I don't have a car" "I do not have a car"
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4 Answers
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There is no problem of grammar here. Either form is accpetable. It is simply a question of style. The only form which seems "wrong" would be "I have not a car" although I believe this may have been used in older English. I would accept the following forms as correct:
"Do you have a car?" "Have you a car?" "Have you got a car"
"I haven't a car" (interestingly this sounds OK but "I have not
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All are grammatically correct. Here’s my understanding.

I haven’t a car. (old-fashioned BrE)
Have you a car? (old-fashioned BrE)

I haven’t got a car. (modern BrE)
I’ve got a car. (modern BrE, informal AmE)

I don’t have a car. (AmE)
Do you have a car? (AmE)

In sum, you probably shouldn’t recommend the first two to students because they’re no longer in
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Aspara GusIn sum, you probably shouldn’t recommend the first two to students because they’re no longer in common use, while the others are.
I agree, though I use have you...? and I haven't myself. - I am a sexagenarian speaker of BrE.

The expression "I haven't a clue" is still quite common. Over half of the British National Corpus
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fivejedjonThe expression "I haven't a clue" is still quite common.
Ah, I overlooked this exception.
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