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Tenacious Learner Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Question on the verb 'hadn't'

Hi teachers,
Why in the following sentence the verb 'hadn't' is used instead of 'didn't'?
When the customs officer asked him if he had anything to declare, he told him he hadn't.

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

Your sentence is a straightforward reporting of this dialogue: A: Have you anything to declare? B: No, I haven't.

— Fivejedjon

  • Your sentence is a straightforward reporting of this dialogue: A: Have you anything to declare?
  • B: No, I haven't.
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7 Answers
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Your sentence is a straightforward reporting of this dialogue:

A: Have you anything to declare?
B: No, I haven't.
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I fail to see the need for the past perfect here. It's not even consistent with the previous tense in the sentence.

When the customs officer asked him if he had anything to declare, he told him he didn't.

vs.


When the customs officer asked him if he had had anything to declare, he told him he hadn't.
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fivejedjonYour sentence is a straightforward reporting of this dialogue:
A: Have you anything to declare?
B: No, I haven't.
Hi fivejedjon,
Thank you for you reply.
Hmm, I thought you only have two possibilities for the verb 'have' in questions:

A: Have you got
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Thinking Spain I thought you only have two possibilities for the verb 'have' in questions
The dialogue I gave is fine in British English:
A: Have you anything to declare?
B: No, I haven't
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fivejedjonThe dialogue I gave is fine in British English:
Hi fivejedjon,
Thank you for your reply. So, it is not always necessary to use 'got' with the verb 'have' in British English. I didn't know it.
Then, 'got' is always optional with the verb 'have' in that language.

TS
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Thinking Spainhen, 'got' is always optional with the verb 'have' in that language.
When I was at school in the 1950s, have got was decidedly sub-standard, and the use of the auxuliary DO for negative and interrogative forms of HAVE was deplorably American.

Have got is far more acceptable these days in BrE, but many do not use got
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Hi fivejedjon,
Thank you very much for all your clarifications. I have no further questions on this matter.

TS
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