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Vincent Teo Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Having a haircut

Can I say,

(a) The barber is giving a haircut to my father.

(b) The barber is giving my father a new haircut.

(c) My father is having a haircut.
  

Top answer

"The barber is giving a haircut to my father" sounds unnatural in this case, because "giving ... to" normally means that a specific THING is being given by one person TO another person, but the barber isn't actually GIVING him a THING. " You would only say "a NEW HAIRCUT" if he was getting his hair cut in a different style from what he normally has.

— KrisBlueNZ

  • "The barber is giving a haircut to my father" sounds unnatural in this case, because "giving ...
  • to" normally means that a specific THING is being given by one person TO another person, but the barber isn't actually GIVING him a THING.
  • " You would only say "a NEW HAIRCUT" if he was getting his hair cut in a different style from what he normally has.
  • If he's just getting his hair cut because it's grown too long, it's not a NEW haircut, it's just a haircut.
  • "My father is having a haircut" is good.
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4 Answers
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"The barber is giving a haircut to my father" sounds unnatural in this case, because "giving ... to" normally means that a specific THING is being given by one person TO another person, but the barber isn't actually GIVING him a THING.

"The barber is giving my father a new haircut." You would only say "a NEW HAIRCUT" if he was getting his hair cut in a different s
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HI,

I am getting my hair cut. Is this sentence natural? please do reply me. I would be waiting for your reply.

Thank you,

regards,
Shravan.
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shravanmmHI,I am getting my hair cut.
Yes, that's good.
In this sentence, getting your HAIR CUT is not exactly the same as the word HAIRCUT. You can get A HAIRCUT, or you can get YOUR HAIR CUT. Getting YOUR HAIR CUT is grammatically the same as getting YOUR CAR WASHED, or getting YOUR SHIRT IRONED, and so on. The single word HAIRCUT is a special case. you
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Thank you so much for replying to my question.

Regards,
Shravan.
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