Teacher Discussion Forums

When one is in classroom and they do not understand what's being explained do they say "I have got a doubt" or "I have a question", even if they use one over the other, is it ever possible to use both (in the meaning of clarifying something)?

José

To my ears "I have got a doubt," or "I have a doubt," is not idiomatic.

The ESL teacher who has experience with Latin speakers will usually understand what they mean, but I've never heard it from a native. For me, a "doubt" is not a vague uncertainty. It is a very specific feeling that somthing is NOT possible/true, as in, "I doubt my students studied last night," or "I doubt that George Bush got into Harvard on account of his grades."

The closest thing I can think of in English to the vague meaning you describe might be something like this:
"Do you think Tara B has really studied linguistics?"
"I have my doubts."

Once again, "doubt" refers to the fact that the person believes rather strongly that something is not true, but isn't completely sure. It is not a neutral word one can use for simply not understanding something.

Spanglish - 'tengo dudas'.

I've found that Indian speakers of English often use the word "doubt" in this way. I've heard Indian teachers refer to "doubt clearing sessions" to refer to what we would call "review sessions" at my U.S. university. I commonly hear Indian teaching assistants ask their classes "Any doubts?" where I'd be more likely to say "Any questions?" Using "doubt" in this way is uncommon in the U.S., but I think it's the norm in at least some Indian varieties of English. I don't know if this comes from British English or if it is unique to English spoken in India. Glori

Not British English