Have a rest

[Rachel Adams]

Should I rephrase "have a rest" or does it sound natural? If it sounds unnatural, what would you use instead? I used both "for/on".

"It's a beautiful place where people can have a rest and enjoy the beautiful view and go for/on a picnic."

I don't have any particular place in mind.

 

[emsr2d2]

Stick with "rest". Replace the first "and" with a comma. I'd use "have a picnic".

 

[Rachel Adams]

Stick with "rest". Replace the first "and" with a comma. I'd use "have a picnic".

Do you mean "have" before "rest" is unnecessary?
Could you tell me please if "go for/on a picnic" is wrong?

 

[Yankee]

Should I rephrase "have a rest" or does it sound natural? If it sounds unnatural, what would you use instead? I used both "for/on".

"It's a beautiful place where people can [STRIKE]have a rest[/STRIKE] relax, [STRIKE]and[/STRIKE] enjoy the beautiful view and [STRIKE]go for/on[/STRIKE] have a picnic."

I don't have any particular place in mind.

Suggestions.

 

[Tarheel]

I see no need to replace rest with have a rest.

 

[emsr2d2]

Do you mean "have" before "rest" is unnecessary?
Could you tell me please if "go for/on a picnic" is wrong?

Yes, that's what I mean. As you can see, Yankee made exactly the same changes I suggested, and Tarheel sees no reason for "have a". There is nothing wrong with "go on a picnic". I'm not keen on "go for a picnic" but it's not wrong. It's just that most BrE speakers say "Shall we have a picnic?" or similar.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Yes, that's what I mean. As you can see, Yankee made exactly the same changes I suggested, and Tarheel sees no reason for "have a". There is nothing wrong with "go on a picnic". I'm not keen on "go for a picnic" but it's not wrong. It's just that most BrE speakers say "Shall we have a picnic?" or similar.

Would you use "have" in other situations?

 

[emsr2d2]

Would you use "have" in other situations?

What sort of other situations do you have in mind? Are you talking about "have a rest" or "have a picnic"?

 

[Rachel Adams]

What sort of other situations do you have in mind? Are you talking about "have a rest" or "have a picnic"?

Oh, sorry. I was talking about "having a rest".

 

[emsr2d2]

Hmm, yes, we would use that in different situations but I'm struggling to work out why. Here are some example sentences with "rest" and "have a rest" (of course, the main difference is that in one, "rest" is a verb and in the other, it's a noun).

- It's no good. I'm exhausted. Can we sit on this park bench? I need to have a rest.
- All I want to do on holiday is rest and read.
- I'll be ready in about half an hour. I'm just going to have a little rest before dinner.
- She looks knackered. I think she needs to rest.

OK, now that I've written those out, I would say that "rest" suggests a longer period of doing nothing, whereas "have a rest" usually suggests a shorter period.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Hmm, yes, we would use that in different situations but I'm struggling to work out why. Here are some example sentences with "rest" and "have a rest" (of course, the main difference is that in one, "rest" is a verb and in the other, it's a noun).

- It's no good. I'm exhausted. Can we sit on this park bench? I need to have a rest.
- All I want to do on holiday is rest and read.
- I'll be ready in about half an hour. I'm just going to have a little rest before dinner.
- She looks knackered. I think she needs to rest.

OK, now that I've written those out, I would say that "rest" suggests a longer period of doing nothing, whereas "have a rest" usually suggests a shorter period.

In my context I was talking about a longer "rest". I see. Thanks a million!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I don't see anything unnatural or ungrammatical in have a rest or take a rest.

But "have a" and "take a" are not needed and make the sentence wordier.

I wouldn't use "go for" or "go on" there because the sentence contains a series. People can:

- rest.

- enjoy the view.

- have a picnic.

That series list things you can do when you're already there, and if you're already there, then you don't have to go have a picnic. You're already there, so you can just have a picnic.