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Confused Again Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
Need help with some questions!
I need a few of the regulars out there to help me out again, could you please check what I've answered so far and tell me if I'm right? If I'm wrong please simply point me in the right direction and I'll try again.
Unfortunately questions B and C have stumped me, so I'd be grateful if anyone could direct me to a grammar point which I can look up in a book.
Thanks for any help you can throw my way.
Why can you say……..?
A 'a car' but not 'a water'?
Because 'a car' is a countable noun, whereas ‘water’ is an uncountable noun.
B 'I'm having a bath' but not 'I'm having long hair'?
?
C 'He raised the prices' but not 'he rose the prices'?
?
D 'I waited' but not 'I goed'?
Because 'wait' is a regular verb, whereas 'go' is an irregular verb.
E 'He looked the word up' but not 'he looked the chimney up'?
Both examples contain multiword verbs. The first example is known as a phrasal verb, the direct object ('the word') can go between the verb and the particle. The second example is known as a prepositional verb and the direct object (‘the chimney’) can’t go between the verb and the particle.
Unfortunately questions B and C have stumped me, so I'd be grateful if anyone could direct me to a grammar point which I can look up in a book.
Thanks for any help you can throw my way.
Why can you say……..?
A 'a car' but not 'a water'?
Because 'a car' is a countable noun, whereas ‘water’ is an uncountable noun.
B 'I'm having a bath' but not 'I'm having long hair'?
?
C 'He raised the prices' but not 'he rose the prices'?
?
D 'I waited' but not 'I goed'?
Because 'wait' is a regular verb, whereas 'go' is an irregular verb.
E 'He looked the word up' but not 'he looked the chimney up'?
Both examples contain multiword verbs. The first example is known as a phrasal verb, the direct object ('the word') can go between the verb and the particle. The second example is known as a prepositional verb and the direct object (‘the chimney’) can’t go between the verb and the particle.
Top answer
B. When 'to have' connects with an object to form an idiom which indicates action ("have a meal", "have a bath", "have a good time", "have a bad day"), then "have" is very roughly equivalent to "experience". As such it is being used as a 'dynamic' verb and can take the progressive tenses.
- B.
- When 'to have' connects with an object to form an idiom which indicates action ("have a meal", "have a bath", "have a good time", "have a bad day"), then "have" is very roughly equivalent to "experience".
- As such it is being used as a 'dynamic' verb and can take the progressive tenses.
- In other cases "have" is simply a 'static' verb meaning "possess" ("have a house", "have long hair", "have work to do").
- As such it cannot appear in the progressive tenses.
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2 Answers
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B. When 'to have' connects with an object to form an idiom which indicates action ("have a meal", "have a bath", "have a good time", "have a bad day"), then "have" is very roughly equivalent to "experience". As such it is being used as a 'dynamic' verb and can take the progressive tenses. In other cases "have" is simply a 'static' verb meaning "possess" ("have a house", "have long hair",
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Thanks for your help Calif Jim, it's very much appreciated.
CA
CA
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