English Experts

[Marco Brainiac]

amigos,

Existe alguma regra p usar Haven't ou don't Have??

Na frase:

I lost my keys.
I don´t know. I haven´t a clue where it might be.

Se usasse I don't have estaria correto?

I haven't é apenas p/ Inglês informal? escrito poderia?

[SusieQ]

In modern English haven't is considered formal and is used mostly in British English. Americans only use it in fixed expressions such as I haven't a clue or I haven't the slightest idea. It would sound strange to use don't have in the two examples I have just given. Don't have is used by both Americans and Britons.

[Henry Cunha]

Hi Susie,

It seems to me that any review of occurrences of "haven't" (by checking in Google, for instance)in American or British English will show it is used much more than only in fixed expressions. I'm not sure there's anything very formal about "haven't," either.

Likewise "I don't have a clue" is extremely common. I'm sure I've used it innumerable times over the years.

Is there a rule of formality? I don't think so. I think there may be an issue of preference. Some people may use one more than the other. Some people may use "I haven't a clue" instead of "I don't have a clue" at times strictly for emphatic purposes (I do), and sometimes we find youngsters adopting this form simply to sound "different" from their peers. So they annoyingly repeat it all the time...

If I had to suggest a rule about when to use one or the other, it would probably be based on this issue of degree of emphasis.

Regards

[stefany.vba]

Eu tinha essa mesma dúvida e confesso que fica meio dificil entender a gramática sem adotarmos algumas regras ou parâmetros que indiquem sua entonação ou enfase... mas já que tem que ser assim I can only accept ...

[Marco Brainiac]

thanks for help me