Intuition
In a store, you often need to check an item's color or size before buying it. In English, there are two fixed constructions for this: Do you have this in + size/color? and Have you got a bigger/smaller size?
The first construction asks whether an item is available in a specific color or size. The second asks about a different (bigger or smaller) size of the same item when the available one is not suitable.
Do you have this hoodie in grey?
Do you have this hoodie in grey?
in + color
Have you got a bigger cap?
Have you got a bigger cap?
comparative form bigger
Form: Do you have this in + size/color?
Do you have this in…? means “Is this available in… [a color / size]?” Do helps form the question, you refers to the person being addressed, have expresses possession, and this refers to the item being shown. With you, we use do, not does; in introduces the color or size.
When a size is used as the name of one option, it is natural to say in a small / a medium / a large. When small or medium labels a size, in small / in medium is also possible. Do not consider the absence of a an error in every such question.
This refers to an item you are holding or showing. If the item is grammatically plural (gloves, trainers, jeans), replace this with these: Do you have these trainers in brown?
Do you have this in + [color / (a) + size name] + ?
Do you have these boots in black?
Do you have these boots in black?
color without an article; this→these for a plural item
Do you have this ring in a smaller size?
Do you have this ring in a smaller size?
size with the article a
Form: Have you got a bigger/smaller size?
Have you got…? is another way to say “Do you have…?”, especially common in conversational British English. Bigger means “larger,” smaller means “less large,” and size means “the measurement or option of an item.” In this phrase, we ask for a different size; the have got construction itself can also ask about a color.
bigger and smaller are the comparative forms of the short adjectives big and small: add -er, and before -er double the final consonant after a short vowel (big → bigger); small ends in two identical consonant letters, ll, so simply add -er (small → smaller).
Have you got a + bigger/smaller + size + ?
Have you got a bigger cap?
Have you got a bigger cap?
bigger — the size increases
Have you got a smaller ring?
Have you got a smaller ring?
smaller — the size decreases
Do you have versus Have you got
Both constructions can ask whether an item is available and mean practically the same thing. Have got is slightly less formal and is heard more often in conversational British English; Do you have is equally natural in British and American English.
Do not mix the auxiliary verbs in one question: Do you have got... is incorrect because it combines two methods at once (do have and have got).
Do you have this cap in red?
Do you have this cap in red?
version with do have
Have you got this cap in red?
Have you got this cap in red?
same meaning, version with have got
Colors and sizes
After in, there is usually either a color name (red, blue, green, black, white, brown, grey, yellow, pink), a size name used as a noun (a small, a medium, a large), or a numerical size (a size 40).
A size can also be expressed by an adjective before the item noun: a bigger jacket, a smaller ring — in this case, the article comes before the adjective, rather than separately before the word size.
Do you have this jacket in a size 40?
Do you have this jacket in a size 40?
numerical size
Have you got a smaller ring?
Have you got a smaller ring?
size adjective before the noun
Common mistakes
The most common mistakes are omitting the preposition in before a color or size, forming the comparative with more instead of -er (more big instead of bigger), and mixing do have with have got in one question.
Distinguish an incorrect structure from an acceptable option. For example, in medium can name a size without a, whereas more big in an ordinary comparison should be replaced with bigger. The correct patterns are shown below; errors with explanations appear in a separate block.
Do you have this cap in red?
Do you have this cap **in red**?
In introduces the color name red.
Have you got a bigger cap?
Have you got a **bigger** cap?
Bigger is the comparative form of big; in this pattern, we do not add more.
Using it in speech
In a real store, these constructions usually occur in a short dialogue: the customer asks about a color or size, and the salesperson answers and may offer an alternative.
The exercises for this rule gradually remove the prompts: from choosing a ready-made sentence to formulating a question independently in a situation, expressing an intention, and taking part in a dialogue.
Excuse me, have you got this hoodie in a bigger size?
Excuse me, have you got this hoodie in a bigger size?
polite opening: excuse me
Sorry, we don't have it in grey, only in black.
Sorry, we don't have it in grey, only in black.
a salesperson's reply using a negative statement
Common mistakes
Incorrect:Do you have this cap in a more big size?
Correct:Do you have this cap in a bigger size?
In an ordinary comparison, big forms bigger. The phrase a bigger size means “a larger size.”
Incorrect:Do you has this cap in blue?
Correct:Do you have this cap in blue?
After the auxiliary do, the base form have is required, not has.
Incorrect:Have got you a bigger cap?
Correct:Have you got a bigger cap?
In the question, have comes first, then the subject you, and only then got: Have + you + got.
Incorrect:Have you got a more big ring?
Correct:Have you got a bigger ring?
One-syllable adjectives describing size form the comparative with the suffix -er, not with the word more.
Incorrect:Do you have got this hoodie in grey?
Correct:Do you have this hoodie in grey? / Have you got this hoodie in grey?
You cannot combine do have and have got in one question — choose one option.
Incorrect:Have you got a small more ring?
Correct:Have you got a smaller ring?
The comparative is formed by adding -er to the adjective (smaller), not by placing the word more after it.