Teacher Discussion Forums

I usually tell my students that take a shower or have a shower is more frequently used in English than the single word 'shower'.

So most people say
'I take a shower after I get up' instead of
'I shower after I get up'

Am I right to tell them that though the word shower is in the English language, most people say 'take/have a shower instead??

Does it make any difference.? Is there any relevant frequency difference among these three options?

I use "take a shower" the most. "Shower" sounds a little formal to me. I don't think it makes a big difference.

Personally I usually have a shower. I agree with Lorikeet that shower sounds sounds a bit formal, but wouldn't get too hung up about it. Likewise for have/take a bath, though bathe would sound a bit odd to me.

I also say have a shave more often than just shave.

Finally I like to have a drink with friends. Drink with friends makes one sound like an alcoholic.

Dunno if there could be some differences on opposite sides of the pond, but it wouldn't surprise me.

I always thought 'have a shower' was British, and 'take a shower' was American.

In Britain most things you can do in the bathroom (including those that are not suitable for a family forum as well as the high-minded 'have a good read on the john') use the phrase 'have a'.

Stephen Jones wrote:I always thought 'have a shower' was British, and 'take a shower' was American.

Well that certainly goes along with what we've said so far

Google results:

Results 1 - 10 of about 41,000 for "have a shower".
Results 1 - 10 of about 168,000 for "take a shower".
Results 1 - 10 of about 19,900 for "I shower"

Results 1 - 2 of 2 for "when do you have a shower".
Results 1 - 10 of about 81 for "when do you take a shower".
Results 1 - 10 of about 95 for "when do you shower"

Maybe it depends on the pronoun used. As someone here said, "shower", used alone, sounds quite formal. That could be why it has higher results than "have a shower" when the second person pronoun is used. If so, it must be the BrEng contingent who are doing most of the influencing as their score drops radically on the change in pronoun.

Thanks Metal56. I had used Google before too to get some statistisc about usage and frequency. This time I did not remember that obvious option, but though not scientific, the results are revealing (With more time it would be even more exact to do the search preceded by each personal pronoun for all
three options).

cftranslate wrote:Thanks Metal56. I had used Google before too to get some statistisc about usage and frequency. This time I did not remember that obvious option, but though not scientific, the results are revealing (With more time it would be even more exact to do the search preceded by each personal pronoun for all
three options).

Yes, but I think the pronouns are always there with the other two options, whether explicitly or implicitly. One has to include a personal pronoun with the word "shower" in order to define the search and cut out all other appearances of a very common word.