DearYolanda Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
The town house has a tennis court.
Hi, please look at this sentence: The town house has a tennis court.
What I was taught at school was that only living things can “possess” something, and things without life can not actively “have” anything, so we can only say “there is a tennis court in the town house” (or There is a tennis court equipped in the town house, or A tennis court was built for the residents of the town house or whatever).
The question is, as far as I know,
“The mountains have a village in them.” ———is wrong.
“There is a village in the mountains.”————is right.
“The house has four bedrooms.”————is right.
“There are four bedrooms in the house.”————is also right.
“There is a tennis court in the town house.” is right; but is “The town house has a tennis court.” acceptable?
What I was taught at school was that only living things can “possess” something, and things without life can not actively “have” anything, so we can only say “there is a tennis court in the town house” (or There is a tennis court equipped in the town house, or A tennis court was built for the residents of the town house or whatever).
The question is, as far as I know,
“The mountains have a village in them.” ———is wrong.
“There is a village in the mountains.”————is right.
“The house has four bedrooms.”————is right.
“There are four bedrooms in the house.”————is also right.
“There is a tennis court in the town house.” is right; but is “The town house has a tennis court.” acceptable?
Top answer
” acceptable? I see sentences like this all the time in real estate advertisements.
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DearYolanda“There is a tennis court in the town house.” is right; but is “The town house has a tennis court.” acceptable?I see sentences like this all the time in real estate advertisements.
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DearYolandathings without life can not actively “have” anythingNot so. My house has windows and doors. The table has legs. The cupboards have shelves. (But I should say that I have no idea what you mean by actively having something.)
DearYolanda“There is a tennis court in the town house.” is rightIt's grammatically rig
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DearYolandaWhat I was taught at school was that only living things can “possess” something, and things without life can not actively “have” anything, so we can only say “there is a tennis court in the town house”As far as I know, native speakers are never taught this "rule," at least in the U.S. I don't know anyone who would find anything at all wrong with
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Do you know why you should never tell secrets in the vegetable market?
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Thank you, Khoff, I got you. I guess some vegetables "have" ears?
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Exactly, The corn has ears, and the potatoes have eyes.
Do you know how you can tell that the clock is shy?
Do you know how you can tell that the clock is shy?
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Well, it has hands trying to cover its face?
I thought the corn and clock can "have" because they are personified here.
Thank you, Khoff. And can I say "Beijing has many ancient buildings."?(sounds odd to me)
I thought the corn and clock can "have" because they are personified here.
Thank you, Khoff. And can I say "Beijing has many ancient buildings."?(sounds odd to me)
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"Beijing has many ancient buildings" is perfectly fine.
Cities have buildings and streets. Sentences have nouns and verbs. Books have covers and pages. And so on and so on...
Cities have buildings and streets. Sentences have nouns and verbs. Books have covers and pages. And so on and so on...
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