1

In a discussion on Hacker News, titled:

Not on a Social Network? You’ve Still Got a Privacy Problem

somebody commented that it should say:

Not on a Social Network? You Still Have Got a Privacy Problem

For me personally, the former sounds more readable. Is there a rule about word order here?

Improve this question
5
  • 2
    Did they give any reason to avoid "You've"? If it was informality, why not remove the "Got" as well, making it "You Still Have a Privacy Problem". If you remove the contraction and leave in "Got" it sounds stilted. quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/… is a good post on the usage of "have got". – AlannaRose Oct 7 '14 at 7:03
  • 1
    Original comment: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8419140 – Dan Blows Oct 7 '14 at 7:55
  • Never take any grammar advice from that dude there - ever! – Araucaria - Not here any more. Oct 7 '14 at 12:51
  • Ah, thanks @Blowski for the link. I don't think the commenter was suggesting "You Still Have Got": I think they were just suggesting "You Still Have". That said, "You've Still Got" is grammatical, though informal, and should be fine in a catchy headline. People just like to be snarky in comments. – AlannaRose Oct 7 '14 at 14:39
  • @AlannaRose Oh yes, I hadn't read it in that way. Thanks. Any idea why the commenter would think it wasn't grammatical? Perhaps it sounds more modern, but other than that...? – Dan Blows Oct 7 '14 at 14:46
4

Perfect tenses have an adverb gap between auxiliary verb (have/has/had/'ve/'d) and past participle. So "you have still got ..." is the normal thing and the main rule. But deviations from this rule are possible. So I think "You still have got ..." is possible as well. I think in this position "still" has special emphasis.

There is never an adverb gap between personal pronoun and contracted verb form.

Improve this answer
1
  • +1 Actually, there's a general post-auxiliary slot there regardless of what the verb construction is - and even if there's no auxiliary! – Araucaria - Not here any more. Oct 7 '14 at 12:49
0

Consider these two sentences:

  • Donna still has to complete her assignment.
  • Donna has still to complete her assignment.

In the first case, Donna was given no respite from completing her assignment. But the second case also seems correct if Donna has not yet completed her assignment.

Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    I don't see any difference in connotation between those two sentences. The second sentence would sound more natural to me with "has yet" instead of "has still". – Nuclear Hoagie Jan 9 '20 at 15:48

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.