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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
‘Haven’t you anything better to do?’ and ‘Have you any idea [...]?’
Are the forms ‘Haven’t you anything better to do?’ and ‘Have you any idea [...]?’ correct/proper/formal English?
Moreover, if ‘Haven't you anything better to do?’, meaning ‘Have you not anything better to do?’, is correct, then, following the same logic, isn’t ‘Hadn’t you been there, they would have fallen through the ice’ also correct when meaning ‘Had you not been there, they would have fallen through the ice’?
As for ‘Have you any idea [...]?’, in another forum, someone answered, ‘It isn't a shortened form of "Do you have any idea..." in English, you may often form a question by adding a preceding "Do", but in many cases, you may simply swap the subject and the verb. "You are..." becomes "Are you...?" "He will..." becomes "Will he...?" "I have..." becomes "Have I...?" This is the normal way we construct sentences, not some informal shortening.’
If so, is ‘Had he breakfast this morning?’, the subject and verb having switched from ‘He had [...]’, correct? If not, why?
Hopefully, all the questions will be answered. The more informative they are, the better.
Thank you in advance.
P.S. How is a user account created here? I clicked ‘Join our community’, filled out all the information under ‘Not a member yet?’, typed in the code and clicked ‘Create Account’, but nothing happened.
Moreover, if ‘Haven't you anything better to do?’, meaning ‘Have you not anything better to do?’, is correct, then, following the same logic, isn’t ‘Hadn’t you been there, they would have fallen through the ice’ also correct when meaning ‘Had you not been there, they would have fallen through the ice’?
As for ‘Have you any idea [...]?’, in another forum, someone answered, ‘It isn't a shortened form of "Do you have any idea..." in English, you may often form a question by adding a preceding "Do", but in many cases, you may simply swap the subject and the verb. "You are..." becomes "Are you...?" "He will..." becomes "Will he...?" "I have..." becomes "Have I...?" This is the normal way we construct sentences, not some informal shortening.’
If so, is ‘Had he breakfast this morning?’, the subject and verb having switched from ‘He had [...]’, correct? If not, why?
Hopefully, all the questions will be answered. The more informative they are, the better.
Thank you in advance.
P.S. How is a user account created here? I clicked ‘Join our community’, filled out all the information under ‘Not a member yet?’, typed in the code and clicked ‘Create Account’, but nothing happened.
Top answer
S. How is a user account created here? ’, typed in the code and clicked ‘Create Account’, but nothing happened.
- S.
- How is a user account created here?
- ’, typed in the code and clicked ‘Create Account’, but nothing happened.
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- If it's Internet Explorer, can you please try Firefox or Chrome?
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2 Answers
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AnonymousP.S. How is a user account created here? I clicked ‘Join our community’, filled out all the information under ‘Not a member yet?’, typed in the code and clicked ‘Create Account’, but nothing happened.
What browser do you use? If it's Internet Explorer, can you please try Firefox
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Hi,
You seem to ask the same questions several times. I've already answered you.
'Have you any idea?' is somewhat of an old-fashioned way of saying 'Do you have any idea?', while
this structure is more likely to be used in British English rather than in American English.
'Haven't you anything better to do?' is the old-fashioned way of
You seem to ask the same questions several times. I've already answered you.
'Have you any idea?' is somewhat of an old-fashioned way of saying 'Do you have any idea?', while
this structure is more likely to be used in British English rather than in American English.
'Haven't you anything better to do?' is the old-fashioned way of
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