"catch a cold" vs. "get a cold"

[YAMATO2201]

Are "catch a cold" and "get a cold" always interchangeable?

I think it is OK to use "get a cold" in the progressive tense.

I think you're getting a cold.

However, I wouldn't use "get a cold" in the past simple.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think you're getting a cold. :tick:
I think you're catching a cold. :cross:

I got a cold. :tick:
I caught a cold. :tick:

"Catching a cold" is a one-off event - when someone else with a cold infects you. "Getting a cold" is a gradual happening - you start off with the sniffles, then you might start to cough, then you might get a temperature.

 

[teechar]

Are "catch a cold" and "get a cold" always interchangeable?

On their own (not part of a larger expression), probably.

I think it is OK to use "get a cold" in the progressive tense.

I think you're getting a cold.

Yes.

However, I wouldn't use "get a cold" in the past simple.

Why not? I wouldn't have a problem with that.

 

[YAMATO2201]

Why not? I wouldn't have a problem with that.

I didn't say "got a cold" was incorrect, but I suppose that "I've got a cold" is a natural expression and in American English "I've got" is often pronounced as "I got", so I cannot deny the possibility that some native AmE speakers would take "I got a cold" to mean "I've got a cold". I'd like to play safe.

 

[Tdol]

If I say that I've got a cold, I have it now, but if I am talking about my holiday last year, the present perfect doesn't work.

 

[emsr2d2]

Bear in mind that "I have got" is only the present tense and it's a form of "have". The simple past of it is just "I had".

Present tense: I have got a cold/I have a cold.
Simple past: I had a cold
Present perfect: I have had a cold
Past perfect: I had had a cold

If you change the verb, you get different possibilities:

GET
Present tense (to indicate regularity): I get a cold every winter.
Simple past: I got a cold.
Present perfect: I have got a cold every winter for the last ten years. (This only works with the expression of time and regularity.)
Past perfect: I had got a cold. (Not very common but it's grammatical.)

CATCH
Present tense: I catch a cold every winter. (Again, this only works if you're expressing a regular occurrence.)
Simple past: I caught a cold.
Present perfect: I have caught a cold.
Past perfect: I had caught a cold.