Hi,
Do you have a headache? (habitual)
Have you got a headache? (temporal) |
Native speakers would choose "temporary" over "temporal" in above case, but I don't understand why that is.
I looked them up in dictionaries, but couldn't counvince me of it.
What's the difference between "temporal" and "temporary"?
Temporary - refers to something that only lasts for a limited, and usually short, time. eg If someone offers you a job for only one month, it's a temporary job.
Temporal - describes something that relates to time, with no suggestion of any kind of limit. Often used in a spiritual or philosophical way. eg in Medieval times, the Church took care of spiritual matters and the King was responsible for temporal matters. I think the contrast between temporal and spiritual arises from the concept that time is important for human existence but the soul is eternal.
You hear and read the word 'temporary' a lot, but you very seldom hear or read the word 'temporal'.
In your sentence above, I'd say
Have you got a headache? (describes a temporary condition)
Best wishes, Clive