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Tenacious Learner Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

'Having' synonym for 'with'

Hi teachers,
Would, 'having' be an appropriate synonym for 'with' in the following sentence?
There is a man with a newspaper in his hands.

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

There is a man with a newspaper in his hands. Yes, but it does not fit the grammar. We do not use have (=possess) in continuous form.

— Mister Micawber

  • There is a man with a newspaper in his hands.
  • Yes, but it does not fit the grammar.
  • We do not use have (=possess) in continuous form.
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13 Answers
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Tenacious LearnerWould, 'having' be an appropriate synonym for 'with' in the following sentence?There is a man with a newspaper in his hands.
Yes, but it does not fit the grammar. We do not use have (=possess) in continuous form.
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Mister MicawberYes, but it does not fit the grammar. We do not use have (=possess) in continuous form.
Hi Mister Micawber,
Thanks! Yes, that's what I thought too. Then which one would be possible?
With meaning having is on the book Prepositions Illustrated by the University of Michigan.
From the book:
With: Having, showing an attr
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There is a man holding a newspaper in his hands.
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Mister MicawberThere is a man holding a newspaper in his hands.
Hi Mister Micawber,
Thanks for your help.
Then this one is also possible, isn't it?
There is a man that has a newspaper in his hands.

TL
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I believe with in that sentence is no different than the one in this sentence:

A thief was seen running down the street with two policemen going after him.
and although it may seem to substitute with in your sentence well, the verb to have - in the sense of possess - is not accepted as an alternative/interpretation for it in this above sentence.
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Tenacious LearnerThen this one is also possible, isn't it?There is a man that has a newspaper in his hands.
Yes, 'that' is often used for people, even though grammar books specify 'who'.
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SurferI Googled for the word, and think the following ones are the appropriate synonyms: accompanied by, escorted by ,in the company of.
Hi Surfer,
Thanks for your comments. But I think in this case 'with' doesn't have those meanings.
With those meaning will be sentences like:
She is having dinner with Bill.
She's studying with Mary.

W
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Mister MicawberYes, 'that' is often used for people, even though grammar books specify 'who'.
Hi Mister Micawber,
Thanks for your reply.
Then both are possible, 'who' and that'.

TL
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Tenacious LearnerThen both are possible, 'who' and that'.
Yes.
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Since I'm currently analyzing the King James Version of the Bible, I can come up with a ton of examples of "have" (= possess, hold) used that way; but I imagine the reason is that the authors wanted to keep the translation as close to the original as possible (that's true for the Greek part, don't know about the Old Testament).

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key o
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