Do you have or have you got?
April 22, 2022 6:11 AM Subscribe
Also, do you want or would you like?
Just trying to decide the best way to ask for something. Please help me because I've been overthinking this for some time.
Depends on how formal the situation is, and how indebted you will be to the other person. “Have you got” and “do you want” read as less formal and less indebted to me (UK)
posted by JJZByBffqU at 6:14 AM on April 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by JJZByBffqU at 6:14 AM on April 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
All those constructions are fine in most English dialects. Agree that in my (Northeastern US college-educated white person) dialect, "would you like" and "do you have" are a bit more formal than their alternatives. But I think this is a case where the difference is extremely tiny and basically a matter of personal preference.
posted by mskyle at 6:16 AM on April 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mskyle at 6:16 AM on April 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
FWIW, my mother always had us say, "Would you like _____?"
posted by NotLost at 6:26 AM on April 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by NotLost at 6:26 AM on April 22, 2022 [3 favorites]
If pressed to put a number on it, I’d say Would you like is about 50% more “polite-sounding” than do you want, but both are fine.
Do you have is probably 15% more “polite-sounding” than have you got but both are fine.
That’s how I hear those choices. For context, I’m a North-American born English speaker, raised by people from several very classist British colonies, so my English grammar was trained to be slightly more formal than the average American or Canadian person’s English.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 6:31 AM on April 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Do you have is probably 15% more “polite-sounding” than have you got but both are fine.
That’s how I hear those choices. For context, I’m a North-American born English speaker, raised by people from several very classist British colonies, so my English grammar was trained to be slightly more formal than the average American or Canadian person’s English.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 6:31 AM on April 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Even on an informal level, I don't hear "have you got" very often (northeast US). It sounds fairly British to me.
posted by Pax at 6:40 AM on April 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Pax at 6:40 AM on April 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
This is a ten-year-old post, but it suggests that there is a stark difference between US and UK English:
AmE: Do you have = 3092, Have you got = 99. So 31:1.
BrE: Do you have = 245, Have you got = 450. So 1:<2.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 6:48 AM on April 22, 2022 [5 favorites]
AmE: Do you have = 3092, Have you got = 99. So 31:1.
BrE: Do you have = 245, Have you got = 450. So 1:<2.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 6:48 AM on April 22, 2022 [5 favorites]
To me, wanting something is a bit more aggressive than liking something. For example, "I want another cup of coffee" versus the less-demanding, "I would like another cup of coffee [if that's okay with you]." So if you ask someone if they'd like something, you're subtly suggesting to them that you know that they just prefer it and they're not necessarily expecting it.
I think it is the same with "Do you have" vs "Have you got". Do you have is a bit more aggressive than have you got.
posted by SageTrail at 6:48 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think it is the same with "Do you have" vs "Have you got". Do you have is a bit more aggressive than have you got.
posted by SageTrail at 6:48 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
"Have you got," is in wide usage, it's true, but I think it's awful sounding, not to mention poor grammar. "Do you have" is polite and I don't see any aggression in it at all. "Do you have these shoes in black?" is perfectly fine.
posted by Dolley at 6:52 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Dolley at 6:52 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
I prefer "hast thou?".
But seriously, I don't like the word "got", and I prefer to avoid it if there's another construction that doesn't sound forced. So my vote is for "do you have?" I don't have a preference between "do you want?" or "would you like?". "Would you like?" maybe sounds a bit service industry-y to me (e.g., "would you like some more coffee, sir?"), but not so much that I'd avoid it.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:58 AM on April 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
But seriously, I don't like the word "got", and I prefer to avoid it if there's another construction that doesn't sound forced. So my vote is for "do you have?" I don't have a preference between "do you want?" or "would you like?". "Would you like?" maybe sounds a bit service industry-y to me (e.g., "would you like some more coffee, sir?"), but not so much that I'd avoid it.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:58 AM on April 22, 2022 [4 favorites]
"Could I ask you for" or "could you spare" or "do you have" is probably what I'd use with stranger, followed by "do you have," as a beanplating white academic. "Have you got the [tool]?" is something I might say to someone I work with closely. "Would you like" does read as a bit more formal to me, though neither would be surprising. I would not be offended by any of the proposed options.
posted by eotvos at 6:59 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by eotvos at 6:59 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
As long as you don't say "You don't have ______, do you?" That drove me mad when I was in retail.
posted by Hey, Zeus! at 7:13 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Hey, Zeus! at 7:13 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't like the word "got"
Well, join the enormous club because there are about a billion just like you! My question is, WHY? Why the loathing for this useful little word? I acquired an illness is somehow better than I got sick? "He got the paper," no no no, it's got to be- no! Sorry, sorry, it has to be or it must be "he picked up the paper" or "he went out and found the paper and secured it firmly in the crook of his arm and lo, now he has the everlasting goddamn paper in his possession but don't ask any more about it because I'm exhausted and have a migraine, now." "She got the milk at the corner store" has to be "She purchased the milk at the corner store" for no discernible reason. Poor "got" has to be kicked out of every sentence when there's nothing wrong with it. This perfectly innocuous little helpful word.
posted by Don Pepino at 7:18 AM on April 22, 2022 [8 favorites]
Well, join the enormous club because there are about a billion just like you! My question is, WHY? Why the loathing for this useful little word? I acquired an illness is somehow better than I got sick? "He got the paper," no no no, it's got to be- no! Sorry, sorry, it has to be or it must be "he picked up the paper" or "he went out and found the paper and secured it firmly in the crook of his arm and lo, now he has the everlasting goddamn paper in his possession but don't ask any more about it because I'm exhausted and have a migraine, now." "She got the milk at the corner store" has to be "She purchased the milk at the corner store" for no discernible reason. Poor "got" has to be kicked out of every sentence when there's nothing wrong with it. This perfectly innocuous little helpful word.
posted by Don Pepino at 7:18 AM on April 22, 2022 [8 favorites]
This is not a direct answer, but the Stack Exchange site for English is excellent for questions like this. Your question was asked there in 2013 and was considered a duplicate of a slightly more general question which received some quite detailed answers.
(I love Ask MetaFilter; my directing you to another site is not intended as a diss of this community, nor is it intended as a general endorsement of all Stack Exchange sites.)
posted by StrawberryPie at 8:03 AM on April 22, 2022
(I love Ask MetaFilter; my directing you to another site is not intended as a diss of this community, nor is it intended as a general endorsement of all Stack Exchange sites.)
posted by StrawberryPie at 8:03 AM on April 22, 2022
Oh I'm not that dogmatic. I've gotten sick many times. Like I said, "if there's another construction that doesn't sound forced". "I became infected with a cold" is too much. But I guess I think "got" might be a bit overused. There are more precise words in most cases. Kind of like overusing "very", maybe? If something is "very ___", maybe there's a better word. But back to the OP's question, I don't think less of people who use "got"; I just try to avoid it myself.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:07 AM on April 22, 2022
posted by kevinbelt at 8:07 AM on April 22, 2022
I thought the question was how you ask for a thing. If so, I cannot see how “would you like X?” applies. Let’s be concrete: I walk into the hardware store and I am looking for a tub of pig polish, as one does.
“Ya gots any pigs polish?” I am Popeye, but the sense comes acrost.
“Hast thou polish for pork?” Okay, Bill, it’s over there.
“Can I get some pig polish.” Also sensible, but apparently my question mark key is sticking. Since we’re only talking spoken language, pass it by.
“Do you want some pig polish?” No no no. Why am I asking what they want? I have failed to convey the gist: that I myself wish for polish. This construct would be what the clerk would ask ME if they were pushing polish.
Maybe my sixty-mumble-year-old Midwest dialect is unreasonably inflexible, but “do you want” does not convey (to me) the same thing as “do you have” or “can I get” or all these others. Of course, I’d understand what the idea was, but I’d assume the customer was bit off.
Also, the Stack Exchange discussion is interesting.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:25 AM on April 22, 2022
“Ya gots any pigs polish?” I am Popeye, but the sense comes acrost.
“Hast thou polish for pork?” Okay, Bill, it’s over there.
“Can I get some pig polish.” Also sensible, but apparently my question mark key is sticking. Since we’re only talking spoken language, pass it by.
“Do you want some pig polish?” No no no. Why am I asking what they want? I have failed to convey the gist: that I myself wish for polish. This construct would be what the clerk would ask ME if they were pushing polish.
Maybe my sixty-mumble-year-old Midwest dialect is unreasonably inflexible, but “do you want” does not convey (to me) the same thing as “do you have” or “can I get” or all these others. Of course, I’d understand what the idea was, but I’d assume the customer was bit off.
Also, the Stack Exchange discussion is interesting.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:25 AM on April 22, 2022
To a store clerk I would more likely say, "Do you have kiwis?" than "Have you got kiwis?" I might say to a coworker, "Have you got the three-ring hole punch?" But probably more likely I'd use "do you have" in that instance, as well.
"Do you want" is maybe for things that are likely not to be wanted, as in: "Do you want this stack of tote bags I was going to take to the thrift store?"
"Would you like" seems like more for special things, as in (actual sentence actually spoken in the actual world): "Would you like a baby possum?"
posted by Don Pepino at 8:44 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
"Do you want" is maybe for things that are likely not to be wanted, as in: "Do you want this stack of tote bags I was going to take to the thrift store?"
"Would you like" seems like more for special things, as in (actual sentence actually spoken in the actual world): "Would you like a baby possum?"
posted by Don Pepino at 8:44 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
"Would you like" threads the needle between being gracious and establishing boundaries about what's on offer. "Would you like orange juice?" does not brook a whiny request for apple juice instead. The inverse is soft: I'd like orange juice. On the other hand, "Do you want" bounds the choice, but is more abrupt because it's an invitation to demand; the inverse is "I want orange juice."
Regarding do you have/have you got, I think the latter is a Britishism. A friend uses "Have you any orange juice?" which to my ear is less demanding than "Do you have orange juice" and less confrontational than "Have you got orange juice?" The "any" (or, similarly, "some") is modulating and softening.
posted by carmicha at 10:54 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Regarding do you have/have you got, I think the latter is a Britishism. A friend uses "Have you any orange juice?" which to my ear is less demanding than "Do you have orange juice" and less confrontational than "Have you got orange juice?" The "any" (or, similarly, "some") is modulating and softening.
posted by carmicha at 10:54 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
My english teacher in 8th grade used to say "got" is a superfluous word in the language. YMMV.
posted by MiraK at 11:43 AM on April 22, 2022
posted by MiraK at 11:43 AM on April 22, 2022
My M does indeed V, as Vs the M, I submit with considerable confidence, of 8th-grade English teachers everywhere along with every other English speaker currently on Earth, whether or not they profess to eschew "got."
This is because the scroll bar on the entry for "get" in the OED is roughly sixtyseven miles long. Without "get," there is a huge host of things we now naturally and unconsciously say that we couldn't say.
Even if we limit discussion to only the connotation synonymous with "have," do the English teachers really want want "Got a sec?" and its enormous family to be disappeared from the language? Why? It's redundant? Do speakers of English want only one way to say the exact same thing? Not in the history of English, we don't.
Other than that "it's superfluous" canard, there's never any explanation beyond "it's bad grammar," which it frequently is not: "Have you got the pen?" is fine. "Got the documents?" (where "Have you" is implied) is fine. "I've got syphilis!" is fine. The ungrammatical uses are rarer than 8th-grade English teachers seem to think.
The ungrammatical uses are nice to have in the arsenal, too.
Oh yeeeeah? I gotcher "superfluous" right here!
(I may or may not have found my own 8th-grade English teacher annoying.)
posted by Don Pepino at 3:56 PM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is because the scroll bar on the entry for "get" in the OED is roughly sixtyseven miles long. Without "get," there is a huge host of things we now naturally and unconsciously say that we couldn't say.
Even if we limit discussion to only the connotation synonymous with "have," do the English teachers really want want "Got a sec?" and its enormous family to be disappeared from the language? Why? It's redundant? Do speakers of English want only one way to say the exact same thing? Not in the history of English, we don't.
Other than that "it's superfluous" canard, there's never any explanation beyond "it's bad grammar," which it frequently is not: "Have you got the pen?" is fine. "Got the documents?" (where "Have you" is implied) is fine. "I've got syphilis!" is fine. The ungrammatical uses are rarer than 8th-grade English teachers seem to think.
The ungrammatical uses are nice to have in the arsenal, too.
Oh yeeeeah? I gotcher "superfluous" right here!
(I may or may not have found my own 8th-grade English teacher annoying.)
posted by Don Pepino at 3:56 PM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
If I am shopping for something, I will often say, "I am looking for _____"
posted by NotLost at 9:35 PM on April 22, 2022
posted by NotLost at 9:35 PM on April 22, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sagc at 6:14 AM on April 22, 2022 [1 favorite]