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Someone is showing around her house, pointing at some printings of paintings on a wall by a famous painter. She says:

I wanted an original of hers but she never has them available.

Christmasy time home decoration

"...she never has them available." caught my attention.

At first, I thought that it might mean the painter paints but never sell them, so she never puts them on sale.

Then I thought it might also mean, she paints them, puts them on sale, they are all sold, but she doesn't paint any new paintings, so no paintings has been available for a very long time.

I think the first one makes more sense, but what about second one?

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  • Are you sure they were paintings and not numbered (limited edtion) color lithographs?
    – TimR
    Commented yesterday
  • @TimR, I don't know what a color lithograph is. They seemed like reproductions of some paintings to me, which I am not good at understanding. In the video she does not mention anything like numbered (limited edition) or something like that. If you are good at understanding it, I just added the link in the text of the question.
    – Yunus
    Commented yesterday
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    I’m voting to close this question because it is not about English per se.
    – Lambie
    Commented yesterday
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    There's a number disagreement between "an original" and "them" so I think it is indeed a suitable question for ELL. Why not "never has one available"?
    – TimR
    Commented yesterday
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    "Never" does not always mean never; we sometimes say "never" for hyperbolic exaggeration. It is possible that originals are sold, and that the speaker has checked a few times and found them to be sold out each time, and they are expressing their frustration by exaggerating. If the painter LITERALLY never sells her original paintings, using "never" to express that is actually more ambiguous than simply saying "she does not sell them."
    – Hiten Style
    Commented yesterday

2 Answers 2

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You're correct. If what was intended was that they're put on sale, but always sold out when you try to buy them, it would be more normal to say something like:

but they're never available

"she never has" implies that the painter is avoiding putting them on sale.

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  • There is no 'correct' in an ambiguous statement. Never has THEM available (for sale) implies a policy, whereas 'never has any....' implies that they're sold out. I stand by my guess.
    – Driftwood
    Commented 18 hours ago
  • I don't consider the distinction between "any" and "them" to be significant in this case. I think it's the subject of the second clause is more important ("they" versus "she"). But it would be even clearer if it had been written as "she never makes them available"
    – Barmar
    Commented 18 hours ago
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@lambie is right. This question queries print distribution vs original ownership. FWIW, my guess is that "she never makes them available" so as to protect value of her copies.

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