However, native English speakers don’t usually say it this way. If you want to know the answer about something, you should say “I have a question.”
The word doubt in English is more often used as a verb. It means to be uncertain with somewhat of a negative connotation – you are expressing that you do NOT have confidence about something, or you believe something probably WON’T happen or is NOT true:
- I doubt that my team will win the championship.
= I think my team is unlikely to win - After reading that book, I started to doubt some of my beliefs.
= I began to feel uncertain that my beliefs were true/reliable - My kids have always doubted the existence of Santa Claus.
= my kids always suspected that Santa Claus did NOT actually exist
When used with “have,” we typically use “doubts” in the plural, usually followed by “about“:
- I have my doubts about his ability to do the job.
= I am not 100% certain that he can do the job - The senator has some doubts about whether the new law will be effective.
= The senator is not confident about the new law
We can also say a situation is in doubt if it is uncertain; it is not yet decided/resolved:
- They haven’t yet finished the scientific study, so the outcome is still in doubt.
= not yet finalized - The company has been having financial problems and its future is in doubt.
= uncertain; the company may succeed or it may fail
Let’s look at more expressions with the word doubt:
room for doubt
If there’s room for doubt, it means that there is a chance that a situation may not be exactly as it seems.
- Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. There’s always room for doubt.
plant/sow a seed of doubt
This expression means to do or say something that makes another person begin to feel doubt, begin to feel uncertain or suspicious:
- She claimed she wasn’t cheating on her husband, but her frequent phone calls to another man planted a seed of doubt in his mind.
give someone the benefit of the doubt
This phrase means to decide to believe/trust someone, in a situation where you could choose either to believe or not to believe him/her.
- The boss doesn’t track our time; she gives us the benefit of the doubt.
= She trusts the employees to work appropriate hours - My brother broke my computer and said it was an accident. I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
= I believe his claim that it was accidental and he didn’t do it on purpose
no doubt / without a doubt
These expressions are used when you are very certain or very confident about something. You can also use “without a shadow of a doubt” for even more emphasis on the fact that you are 100% certain:
- She’s so smart. She’ll do well in college, no doubt.
- There’s no doubt that this medication works; it has been tested extensively and proven to have great results.
- This is, without a doubt, the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had!
- I’ve known him for ten years and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that he’s an honest man.