Correct usage of 'was not having' or 'did not have'?

Question

Is the sentence 'The man was not having any change' grammatically correct? Or does I have to be 'did not have'?

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Stative verbs like have, be, love are not ordinarily used in progressive constructions, at least in part because one function of the progressive is to ‘recategorize’ an eventive as a stative and statives are of course already stative. When they are used in the progressive, they have somewhat different meanings:

He's being an idiot does not mean He is an idiot but He's behaving like an idiot.

I'm loving it! does not mean I love it but I am enjoying it greatly.

I'm not having it does not mean I don't have it but I refuse to accept it.

In your sentence have is used in its ordinary sense possess, so it should not be cast in the progressive.

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 24 '13 at 17:24

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Neither usage is technically incorrect, but they carry slightly different meanings. Almost always, "did not have" is what you intend. A native English speaker would almost never use "was not having", and certainly not in that context.

answered Dec 24 '13 at 17:24

Mark Bailey

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I'm not having that! – Tim Lymington Dec 24 '13 at 17:46
@TimLymington Exactly! It has a different meaning. – Mark Bailey Dec 24 '13 at 18:05

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 24 '13 at 19:39

0

It is grammatically correct, but it doesn't make logical sense. What is the act of not having any change that this man was engaged in?

answered Dec 24 '13 at 19:39

David Schwartz

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Correct usage of 'was not having' or 'did not have'?

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