ENGLISH
REFERENCE

have against

phr. v..
B1 Intermediate Oxford Informal

phr. v.. to have a specific reason for disliking or not trusting someone or something.

phr. v.. to hold a grudge or possess a specific reason for hostility or prejudice toward a person or entity; typically used in interrogative or negative constructions.


SIMPLE

I don't know what you have against my brother.

CONTEXTUAL

The manager seems to have something against me because he never approves my holiday requests.

COMPLEX

It remains unclear what the committee could possibly have against the proposal, given that it meets every single budgetary requirement they previously established.

Particles
against
Separability
separable
Pattern
have + object + against + person/thing
Usage

usually requires an object (like 'something', 'nothing', or 'what') between 'have' and 'against'.

Teaching tip

point out that this is almost always used with 'what', 'something', 'anything', or 'nothing' to quantify the level of dislike.

Pitfall

What do you have against to him?What do you have against him?the preposition 'against' is followed directly by the object without 'to'.

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