Learn English – are or have the same price and different designs

grammaticality-in-contextword-choice

I am going to make up two sentences below.

  1. All the different computers in this section are or have the same price.

  2. These watches have or are different designs.

I have heard people use either choice when I shop in stores.

Which one is actually correct – are or have?

Best Answer

Both solutions are possible in the first sentence. Both of them mean the same thing.

  • All the different computers in this section are/have the same price.

However, with the second sentence it is grammatically correct to add the preposition "of" after are:

  • These watches are of/have different designs.

It just happens that the word you picked for this example, "designs", has multiple meanings. "Design" can refer to either the scheme for how the components of the watch will work, or a decorative pattern applied to the watch. So if it is used with have, the meaning of the sentence would depend on the context. If are of is used, it could have only the first meaning.