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Found a similar question here, but with some minor differences. Is it archaic to use have you in sentences such as this:

John : I think we can see it with a specially crafted telescope.
Mary : Have you such a telescope?

instead of

Mary : Do you have such a telescope?

Is it still used in official and casual conversations?

tchrist
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Renae Lider
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    It's not really done in AmE, except when one wants to elevate the register (i.e. sound arch). I think it's still pretty common in BrE. – Dan Bron Jun 01 '15 at 16:13
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    @Dan: It's not particularly common in BrE these days either (definitely not with younger speakers, or in casual spoken contexts). I'd have though outside of very formal contexts, Have you got* X?* would be the most common form on both sids of the pond. – FumbleFingers Jun 01 '15 at 16:35
  • @FumbleFingers Both of 'Have you an X?' and 'Have you got an X?' are unheard of in AmE at any register. The only instance, which allows AmE speakers to recognize it, is in the song Mary had a Little Lamb': "Have you any wool?" – Mitch Jun 01 '15 at 16:51
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    @Mitch: Comparing US/UK corpora for *have you got* in NGrams, I think maybe "unheard of in AmE" might be putting it a bit strong. But it does seem to be somewhat more common in BrE, and it's interesting to see that AmE shows a significant decline in this usage over the past half-century, which isn't reflected in the BrE chart. – FumbleFingers Jun 01 '15 at 16:57
  • @FumbleFingers OK. Yes 'Have you got...' does seem to be more common than I imagined (and those examples linked via NGrams are mostly not weird (which can be common with (generic) ngrams)). I was led astray by the sound of the decidedly unused 'Have you an X?' pattern – Mitch Jun 01 '15 at 17:04
  • @Mitch: I'm not convinced the average Brit has used Have you an X? very often since Victoria was on the throne. But it was a surprise to me to see that US decline in Have you got an X? over recent decades. Though I am aware that Americans are much more likely to use an alternative like Can I get an X? - in a cafe, say, where X might be something as obviously available as a cup of coffee. I always think that's a bit unusual, since Brits are more likely to use *have* rather than *get* in such contexts. – FumbleFingers Jun 01 '15 at 17:26
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    In AmE, Have you got an X? is viewed as informal and is more likely to be heard in speech than seen in writing. But I think it's still quite common in speech. – Peter Shor Oct 13 '18 at 15:45
  • @Mitch The lexical verb works differently from the way the auxiliary verb works in present-day English: ‘Have you ever seen such a sight in your life?’ cannot be rephrased with do-support and remain grammatical. – tchrist Oct 13 '18 at 18:51

1 Answers1

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In American English, you almost never hear the more archaic form, "Have you such a telescope?"

It's not improper, just dated. I don't think anyone would be confused by it, but possibly taken aback by the anachronistic usage.

kayleeFrye_onDeck
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    +1. With the exception of Baa baa black sheep, have at the head of a question in AmE is usually auxiliary "have" not lexical "have". – TimR Jun 01 '15 at 18:30