"am having/ are having" or "have"? [duplicate]

Which of the following is grammatically correct?

I am having OR I have.

We/they/you are having OR we/they/you have.

For eg.

I have/ We have a problem that I/we can't seem get rid of.

OR

I am having/ We are having a problem that I/we can't seem get rid of.


Grammatically, they are both fine.

In English usage, it depends which variety of English you are talking about.

In British English, there are some uses where am/is/are having is idiomatic, for example:

  • for some mental states or personal experiences:

I'm having second thoughts about going out tonight.

He's having a panic attack

They're having fun.

  • where have has the meaning being the host for (either an event or a visitor), and with a sense of future intent, so:

We are having a party next month.

We are having our cousins to stay next week.

But for most uses of have we don't use the progressive.

In British English

We're having a problem

is possible, but means something like we are experiencing a problem, rather than the neutral there is a problem: it carries a sense that we are somehow personally involved in or affected by the problem.

My impression is that in Indian English we are having is much more widely used.