# Going to go and having to have - are there any other verbs that do this? (and in other languages) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194 "2014-03-21T00:13:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/1 "2014-03-21T00:13:56Z")
I am _going to go_ to the Doctor’s surgery tomorrow. I _have to have_ a blood test. Both of the above sentences are common, normal usage, at least in British English (not sure about other dialects) Of course they don’t really contain a repeated verb because in the first case, ‘going to’ means ‘intending to’ - and in the second, ‘have to’ means ‘must’. Are there other English verbs that work like this - perhaps in other dialects than mine? Does this happen at all in non-English languages? (for example, I know _macht_ in German means ‘make’, but also means more generically ‘do’ - but does it ever appear twice in succession as a result of this?) ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/2 "2014-03-21T00:23:56Z")
Do you post on the SDMB often? Yes, I do do that. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/3 "2014-03-21T00:42:09Z")
A french example - [faire faire](http://briquesduneige.blogspot.com.au/2005/02/faire-faire.html) (together with instructive discussion on its use) ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/4 "2014-03-21T00:49:46Z")
Both of the OP examples are heard in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/5 "2014-03-21T00:52:20Z")
Down here in the south you frequently hear “fixing to fix,” as in “I’m fixin’ to fix supper” or even “I’m fixing to fix the door.” But we’re weird. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/6 "2014-03-21T01:00:57Z")
[The 'pedia’s take](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going-to_future). It only mentions French, Spanish, and some Creoles, but shouldn’t be construed that that’s all there is. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/7 "2014-03-21T01:56:02Z")
I had had fish for dinner and I will will it not to make me sick next time. ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/8 "2014-03-21T05:05:44Z")
After that horrible experience, I plan to plan better next time. I have kept your secret for 30 years, and I will keep on keeping your secret for as long as I live. Would you mind minding the store while I am gone? I suppose if I really needed to talk to her, I could see seeing if she is home by calling her house, but there was no call to call her 35 times. I can can the peaches, but I can’t can the tomatos. ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/9 "2014-03-21T05:18:21Z")
In Japanese, “mite mite” would be used to invite someone to “take a look for yourself” through a telescope, etc. Both instances are verbs: “to look” combined in a form that suggests an invitation to attempt an action (the action of looking, in this case) ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/10 "2014-03-21T05:26:02Z")
For the Japanese speakers in the audience, I mean the second “mite” in the sense of “yatte miru”, not an excited “mite! mite!” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/11 "2014-03-21T05:29:38Z")
“Going to go” is just one particular case of a more general construct: “Going to \” to express an intention to do something in the future. Idiomatically, it’s actually the more common way we express the future tense in English. In “Going to go”, the second verb “go” just happens to be the verb that is being expressed in the future tense. As noted above, this construct is used in Spanish too. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/12 "2014-03-21T05:32:18Z")
Thai has various common multi-meaning verbs that might be combined in such a fashion, but most such constructions would be avoided as awkward. {ให้ /hai/} can mean to give or to permit, so one common non-awkward example (and my native-speaking informants agree) would be (in answer to a question “Why did you give money to that guy?”): แม่ให้ให้ – Mother permitted to give. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/13 "2014-03-21T05:35:01Z")
Doesn’t really answer the OP, but if you’ve not come across it before, the [11 consecutive "had"s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_while_John_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_a_better_effect_on_the_teacher) sentence example is quite interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/14 "2014-03-21T05:40:26Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Down here in the south you frequently hear “fixing to fix,” as in “I’m fixin’ to fix supper” or even “I’m fixing to fix the door.” But we’re weird. Fixing to is an older meaning of fix that means “to arrange or make preparation for”. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/15 "2014-03-21T06:13:49Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Doesn’t really answer the OP, but if you’ve not come across it before, the [11 consecutive "had"s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_while_John_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_had_a_better_effect_on_the_teacher) sentence example is quite interesting. Of course, besides being highly contrived, that well-known example is a little bit bogus: It contains some quoted text, which of course could be _anything_ with no context. And it’s also, really, two separate sentences semi-colon spliced; some might call that cheating. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/16 "2014-03-21T12:37:53Z")
'I want to put a hyphen between the words ‘Fish’ and ‘And’ and And and Chips in my Fish-And-Chips sign ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/17 "2014-03-21T12:59:29Z")
Different in that the first structure is not modal, as above, and that the verbs are different with respect to… something… maybe aspect? But something arguably related is going on: \*I looked to see if a car was coming. I went to go check on it.\* They sound rather quaint to me. Maybe they’re non-standard dialect? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/18 "2014-03-21T16:59:47Z")
I want to want caviar but it just tastes like fish slime to me. I would like to like caviar but it just tastes like fish slime to me. I would love to love caviar but it just tastes like fish slime to me. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/19 "2014-03-21T18:07:46Z")
Carry on carrying on. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194/20 "2014-03-21T18:22:04Z")
(I know **bob++** set this up deliberately, but I’ll bite.) > [@bob\_2](#): > > 'I want to put a hyphen between the words Fish and And and And and Chips in my Fish-And-Chips sign Wouldn’t the sentence ‘I want to put a hyphen between the words Fish and And and And and Chips in my Fish-and-Chips sign’ have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before Fish, and between Fish and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and Chips, as well as after Chips? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-go-and-having-to-have-are-there-any-other-verbs-that-do-this-and-in-other-languages/684194.md?page=2)