having ... off

Question

Hi there,(In the morning)"Could the dentist see my daughter in the afternoon?""No, he's HAVING the afternoon off."Is it a misprint or a blunder? Why would anyone use the present continuous tense for his/her work schedule, and the continuous form of a stative verb all together?Thanks for your comments in advance.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Using the continuous there makes the statement more immediate and more friendly. It is a common technique.

Paul Evdokimov · Answer

Mister Micawber, is this friendliness somehow propped up by the grammar rules? OK, we can consider his off time in the afternoon to be an (immediate) arrangement instead of a work schedule, which justifies the present continuous, but 'have' in 'to have the afternoon off' is still 100% stative...

Mister Micawber · Answer

No, Paul, 'have' is never 100% stative.  In fact, none of the stative verbs are 100% stative; all occur occasionally in continuous forms.

Paul Evdokimov · Answer

Mister Micawber 'have' is never 100% stative.

I meant stative in a particular collocation. What about 'I have a wrist watch', or 'I have a lot of work to do'? Would you insist on using the present continuous in these examples to denote transience or friendliness as well?

Yes, the stative verbs are used in continuous forms when they bear a different, 'action' meaning.

But in all of the examples above, 'afternoon' included, it's all about possession/condition, which is a 100% state in it's essence.

"I'm loving/hating/believing ..." is all about the colloquial, and doesn't have anything to do with the literary language. Don't you think so?

Fivejedjon · Answer

'Stative' is merely a word/concept grammarians have come up with to describe why the progressive form is not natural in some situations. It provides an explanation, not a prescription.

"He is having the afternoon off" is a perfectly acceptable English sentence, as is ''I am loving my new job'.

having ... off

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions