I have a cold OR I'm having a cold?

[Laimute]

I am really confused how can the phrase be used. Example:

Were u ill last week?
Yes, I had a really bad cold all week.
Shouldn't be used I was having a really bad cold all week? couse it is mentioned that all week.

I'm really looking forward to your explanation.

 

[Nightmare85]

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.**

Hello,
Interesting question. :up:
First off: "Were you ill last week?"

I believe you don't have to use "was having", "had" sounds correct to me.

In my opinion, you could use "was having" here:
He: "Why did you not open the door last night?"
You: "Sorry, I was having a bad cold that moment, that's why I did not want to go out. Furthermore I did not know it was you."
(You link two events.)

But a cold does not come for a moment, it takes a long time (as you said).
(Maybe it's grammatically correct, but not meaningful.)

Let's wait until our teachers say something ;-)

Cheers!

 

[Tdol]

With illnesses, we don't normally use the progressive/continuous form of have.