Originally Posted by hooshdar3
Hi.What's the difference between saying "he holds an advantage" and "he has an advantage"?
Billmcd is correct when he says that
there is no difference between "he holds an advantage" and "he has an advantage."
Most native speakers would not make the extremely fine distinction between to "hold" and to "have", as Rainous suggested earlier in the day. It's just to bothersome.
Nevertheless, if any distinction were to be made, one could argue that in a match where the winner must win by a majority of games played (chess, for example?), a fine difference might exist. I'm not the national coach that you are, and I do not know how chess tournaments are scored. So, I'll use other examples to make my point.
A tennis player is required, in a
tournament, to win by a certain number of sets. If it begins to rain and the match is postponed, the player that is ahead
holds an advantage over his opponent, until play is resumed. Entire teams often
hold the advantage if they are required to play the match over several days (baseball, cricket and others). If, however, the match is a "one-time, winner takes all" affair (e.g. Formula 1 races), it's often the most skilled driver with the fastest vehicle that
has an advantage.
That tiny difference is all that I can think of. In terms of practicality and everyday use, Billmcd is correct.
John