Why do people frequently say:
“Got to run, I have class!” instead of “I have a class!”
Why is the article missing? How can this be some “class in general since” since the speaker apparently means some particular lesson he has to attend? Is it acceptable to say “I have lesson!”?
Best Answer
You can indeed use a determiner with class here if you are referring to a specific class — my class, this class, and so forth. Class can also be used in a non-count way, however. Macmillan notes this under sense 2a:
In fact, many nouns referring to some set, scheduled activity which preoccupies your time can be used without an article with have, where have is the sense of experiencing something (Macmillan sense 4b).