"to have" in the continuous tense

[la_patata]

Hi everybody,

I have a question concerning the verb to have in the continuous tense. I know this verb is "stative" if it means "to possess". Have a shower / a dinner etc. are action verbs and they can be used in the continuos tenses. However, I am not sure about "have a problem" or "have a headache"...

[susiedqq]

Having dinner (participial phrase)

is not the same use as

have a dinner (verb with direct object)

[engee30]

Hi everybody,

I have a question concerning the verb to have in the continuous tense. I know this verb is "stative" if it means "to possess". Have a shower / a dinner etc. are action verbs and they can be used in the continuos tenses. However, I am not sure about "have a problem" or "have a headache"...

You can say I have (got) a problem... or I'm having a problem..., but you can only say I have (got) a headache.

[la_patata]

Having dinner (participial phrase)

is not the same use as

have a dinner (verb with direct object)

Thank you, however, this is not what I was asking about...

[la_patata]

You can say I have (got) a problem... or I'm having a problem..., but you can only say I have (got) a headache.

Thank you very much. Is there a rule for that? I know that if you can replace the construction with "have" by a lexical verb and it describes an action, it can be used in the continuous tenses. However, some cases are not so clear.

[engee30]

Thank you very much. Is there a rule for that? I know that if you can replace the construction with "have" by a lexical verb and it describes an action, it can be used in the continuous tenses. However, some cases are not so clear.

That is so true. It's not that easy to know when you can use have with an action meaning, and have with a stative meaning. Loats of reading would certainly do the trick to get accustomed to using have in the continuous form.