05/01/2023
๐ช๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น (๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ญ)
Good morning. I believe you had a restful sleep.
Since this is our first interaction this year, let me say compliments of the season to you. Note that ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ is spelt with '๐' rather than '๐' in the sequence -๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข- and that the word also ends with an '-s'. Complement is related to the word 'complete' whereas compliment is about expressing praise/approval or good wishes. Please note this and use each appropriately.
Shall we begin our journey to writing and speaking well this year, now that the festive season is over?
๐๐ก๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐
In English, the verb HAVE is one of the three verbs that can play the role of both a primary and an auxiliary verb. I will discuss each one after the other. (I use HAVE to mean that the verb has different forms depending on person, number, and tense -- have, has, had, having)
A primary verb is a verb that can stand on its own. In a sentence like "Bimbola loves her husband", you will see that "love" does not have any other verb after it. "Love", in the preceding sentence, is an example of a primary verb. Let us see "HAVE" functioning as a primary verb in the following sentences:
๐ธ I have a goal this year.
๐ธYou have joy in your heart.
๐ธShe has what it takes to succeed.
๐ธWe have an online class by 2 o'clock.
Please note that "HAVE", as a primary verb, is not used in a progressive sense. That is, you cannot use have + ing. Simply put, using the form have + ing is grammatically wrong when HAVE is a primary verb. Thus, it will be grammatically wrong to use "having" in the examples given above:
*I am having a goal this year โ
*You are having joy in your heart โ
*She is having what it takes to succeed โ
*We are having an online class by 2 o'clock โ
NB:
The asterisk is used in grammar to indicate that an expression is ill-formed.
You need to understand that "HAVE", as a primary verb, is an example of verbs termed STATIVE verbs. Stative verbs refer to a state of someone/something rather than an action of/by someone/something. Some examples of stative verbs are understand, own, owe, love, like, etc.
I guess you now know why your grammar teacher had told you that expressions such as the ones listed below are grammatically wrong.
*I am loving you. โ
*Are you understanding me? โ
*She is owing me N1,000. โ
These sentences are wrong because the verbs in them are stative and so cannot be used in a progressive (continuous tense) form. ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ (๐๐๐).
Back to "HAVE". Do you now understand why "HAVE" cannot be used in the continuous form?
Until next class, do write well and speak well.
Your Coach
Dr Faith