3

I use Stack Overflow a lot and have noticed a certain trend that I myself got caught up in at one time of using the phrase "I am having a problem" in place of "I have a problem."

I would use this phrase for an event in the future, for example, "I am having a steak dinner tonight," but for a problem that I need solved and am asking for a solution, I'd use "I have a problem..."

What would force us to use this phrase? Is it even valid English for the present tense?

Peter Mortensen
  • 3,566
Kyle
  • 212

3 Answers3

9

"I am having a problem" sounds more like the speaker is talking about a current and recent ongoing process, which is probably why it tends to show up on SO. "I have a problem" also has an idiomatic usage meaning the speaker is objecting to something, which isn't a meaning that occurs with "I am having a problem".

It's perfectly valid; it is the present participle.

chaos
  • 19,612
  • But have is a stative verb - "normally not used in the continuous or progressive form" (?). – Peter Mortensen Aug 01 '19 at 18:27
  • I think it's more nuanced than that, though. "Have" in the sense of "possess" is indeed not normally used in the progressive form ("she's having a car" or "he's having a strong opinion" sound ungrammatical). But I think when it means (roughly) "to experience/undergo" it seems perfectly normal -- "Are you having fun?"; "I'm having a great time"; "He's having an affair"; "They're having a fight" are all unremarkable (and in fact "He has an affair" seems to imply something else entirely). – Hunter Aug 01 '19 at 20:21
4

From my observation, I think that Indian English uses the present progressive in a number of cases where other Englishes do not. "I am having a problem" or "I am facing a problem" is a phrase I have often seen in posts from people in India, on this site and elsewhere.

Colin Fine
  • 77,173
0

To me, "I am having a problem" implies that I expect a resolution to it. (Hopefully from responses to my post!). If I "have a problem", I"m not so certain that I will.

MickeyfAgain_BeforeExitOfSO
  • 4,537