[General] don't have vs. haven't got

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Boris Tatarenko

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Hello.

Today I have written a letter (an exercise is letter writing) and after I asked my sister who has the same English level check it.
She checked my letter and said that "I don't have smth" sounds pretty strange for her. She insisted stubbornly on rewrite "don't have" to "haven't got" because it sounds more natural. I disagreed with her. I think they have the same meaning. Eventually, we didn't reach a consensus.

Do they have the same meaning? Maybe "haven't got" sounds more informal than "don't have".

Thank in advance.
Boris.
 

5jj

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I don't have a car. Fine in AmE, and used by some speakers of BrE.
I haven't got a car. Very common in BrE, especially in speech.
I have no car. Rather formal BrE.
I haven't a car. Rather old-fashioned formal BrE.
 

emsr2d2

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They mean exactly the same thing. I was surprised to discover that in Spain, schoolchildren are being taught that "to have got" is a verb in its own right. I had always taught "I have" which led to "I have" or "I don't have" whilst making them aware that "I have got" and "I haven't got" are also used, especially in BrE.

I have to disagree with your sister.

I don't have any money.
I haven't got any money.

They mean the same thing, are both grammatical and are both natural. In the UK, it's true that you will probably hear "I haven't got any money" more often but that doesn't mean that the alternative isn't grammatical and natural.
 
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Boris Tatarenko

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I won. :-D
Thank you.
 
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