a high temperature OR high temperature

[kharchenko]

Hi,I need your help
I am writing an essay from English and don't know how to write it correctly. I have this sentence:
"As for me, I caught a cold a month ago. And it was terrible. I had very a high temperature"
how should i write this? A HIGH TEMPRETURE / HIGH TEMPERATURE .
With "a", or no. Thanks.

[teechar]

Welcome to the forum.

Hi. I need your help.
I am writing an essay from in English, and I don't know how to write it correctly. I have this sentence:
"As for me, I caught a cold a month ago. And it was terrible. I had a very high temperature".
How should I write this?

See above.

[Tarheel]

We wouldn't normally say "I had a high temperature." Instead, we would say "I had a fever."

[emsr2d2]

BrE uses "a high temperature" to refer to a temperature that's just higher than normal. I would use "a fever" only if I felt seriously unwell with it - ie a very high temperature, accompanied by sweating/shivering.

I used to have regular bouts of tonsillitis as a child - they were accompanied by a temperature of about 99-99.5 degrees. That's higher than normal but not, according to my mum or the doctor, anything more urgent.
When I had cellulitis (blood poisoning) later in life, my temperature reached 103 degrees! Now that was a fever. I was sweating, shivering uncontrollably and at one point, started hallucinating!

[Rover_KE]

kharchenko, for future reference, this is how your post should look:

Hi. I need your help. Unnecessary. Just go ahead and ask your question.

I am writing an essay from in English, and I don't know how to write it correctly. I have this sentence:

"As for me, I caught a cold a month ago, and it was terrible. I had a very high temperature".

How should I write this? "a high temperature"/"high temperature" – with "a", or not.

[kharchenko]

We wouldn't normally say "I had a high temperature." Instead, we would say "I had a fever."

Ok, but it's for the British or American English?

[kharchenko]

Thanks for the answers, but I would like to know why I should use the article "a". Is there one rule for this?

[emsr2d2]

We wouldn't normally say "I had a high temperature." Instead, we would say "I had a fever."

OK, but it's is that for the British or American English?

If you look at Tarheel's profile, you will see that he is native American English speaker, so he was answering about that variant.

[emsr2d2]

Thanks for the answers, but I would like to know why I should use the article "a". Is there one rule for this?

Are you asking specifically why you must use the indefinite article before "high temperature" and "fever", or why/when we use the indefinite article before nouns?