[Insomnia]

Originally Posted by Silvine

Not to be too anal, but instead of saying the often annoying 'I have had <a cough>'

try remaining in the progressive context of the sentence by saying;

'I have coughed for 8 months'

or

'I am coughing close to a year'

Because, seriously, 'have' and 'had' should never be seen together.

Who is guilty of this laxatating pleasure?

Since this is once more in relation to a sentence I've said, I'll direct you once more to the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/le...rnitv343.shtml

HAVE HAD is perfectly good english. I will always respect the BBC over randomers on internet message boards.

[herekitty]

Originally Posted by Insomnia

Since this is once more in relation to a sentence I've said, I'll direct you once more to the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/le...rnitv343.shtml

HAVE HAD is perfectly good english. I will always respect the BBC over randomers on internet message boards.

aha!
now put that in your pipe and smoke it silvine.

[Black Mambo]

Yeah, wtf. 'have had' is a perfectly acceptable word combo. 'had had' is too, but it sounds daft, so I'd always use the contracted form for the first 'had', just so it doesn't sound like I'm stuttering. But even then, the second 'had' is always spoken a little longer anyway.

[*k8*]

on the alphabetic/numeric number thing, according to my sources;


"In AP format, numbers between one and ten are written out alphabetically ("nine" as opposed to
"9"), but typically numbers of 11 or higher are written in numeric form"


In MLA format, any number that can be written in two words is written out alphabetically, for
instance, "twenty-one." Any number that cannot be written in two words should be typed in
numeric form, for instance, "731" or "3.14159."


There are some important exceptions:
(1) Always use numerical form for addresses, statistics, percentages or decimals, page numbers, and the
numbers in addresses.
(2) Always use alphabetical form for numbers beginning sentences. (Avoid using a statistical number as the
first word of a sentence if you can help it.)



just so everybody knows.

[llamaglama]

Originally Posted by Silvine

'I have coughed for 8 months'

or

'I am coughing close to a year'

That sounds like a foreign person trying to speak English & dragging everything out. Assuming that people actually give a shit about your cough in the first place, i bet they don't give a toss how long it's lasted.
Have had is fine. You're so anal its ridiculous.