The Verb To Have
| Forms of To Have | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Past | Continuous | |
| I / you / we / they | have |
had |
having |
| he / she / it | has |
had |
having |
Have is one of the most common verbs in the English language. It functions in various ways.
To have as a main verb
As a main verb “to have” implies the meaning of possession.
For example: “I have a job.” “I have a car.“ "I don't have any time."
When it is used to indicate possession you can say "I have..." or you might see/ hear "I have got...".
When you are talking about actions, you only use "have".
For example:
Possession:-
I have a shower in my bathroom, I don't have a bath. = I have got a shower in my bathroom. I haven't got a bath.
The action:-
I have a shower every day. - I'm having a shower now.
!Note - it does not take the continuous form "I having" - for that you have to use the auxiliary verb be.
For example: “I am having a shower.” “Are you having a good time?"
The forms of the verb “to have” are have and has for the present and had for the past.
| Singular | ||
| Do I have ...? Have I got ...? |
I have (I've) |
I have not (I haven't/I've not) |
| Does he / she / it have...? Has he/she/it got ...? |
He/she/it has (He/she/it 's) |
He/she/it has not (He/she/it hasn't) |
| Do you have ...? Have you got ...? |
You have (You've) |
You have not (You haven't/You've not) |
| Did I / he / she / it have ...? Had I / he / she / it / you got...? |
I / He / She / It / You had (I'd / He'd / She'd / You'd) |
I / He / She / It / You had not (I / He / She / It / You hadn't) |
| Plural | ||
| Do we / you / they have ...? Have we / you / they got ...? |
We / You / They have (We've / You've / They've) |
We / You / They have not (We / You / They haven't // We've nof / You've not They've not) |
| Do you have ...? Have you got ...? |
You have (You've) |
You have not (You haven't/You've not) |
| Do they have ...? Have they got ...? |
They have (They've) |
They have not (They haven't/They've not) |
| Did we / you / they have ...? Had we / you / they got ... ? |
We / You / They had (We'd / You'd / They'd) |
I / He / She / It / You had not (I / He / She / It / You hadn't) |
Examples
| Question - ? | "Do you have a car?" | "Have you got a car?" |
| Positive Answer - Yes | "Yes, I have a car." | "Yes I've got a car." |
| Negative Answer - No | "No, I don't have a car." | "No I haven't got a car." |
To have as an auxiliary verb
The verb “to have” is used as an auxiliary verb to help other verbs create the perfect tense - auxiliary verb have [+ past participle].
For example, “I have read a lot of books,” or “I have never been to America,” or "I have already eaten."
Present Perfect |
|||||
| I have been a teacher for over 11 years. | You have been a student for ... | He / She has been a student for ... | It has been nice today. | We have been students for .... | They have been students for ... |
Past Perfect |
|||||
| I had been a teacher for several years. | You had been a student for several years. | He / She had been a student for several years. | It had been nice for several hours. | We had been students for several years. | They had been students for several years. |
Future Perfect |
|||||
| I will have been a teacher for several years. | You will have been a student for several years. | He / She will have been a student for several years. | It will have been nice for several years. | We will have been students for several years. | They will have been students for several years. |
| Question | Positive Statement | Negative Statement (possible short forms) |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | ||
| Have you been ...? | You have been ... (You've been ...) |
You have not been ... (You haven't been ... // You've not been ...) |
| Plural | ||
| Have we / you / they been ...? | We / You / They have been ... (We've / You've They've been ...) |
We / You / They have not been ... (We / You / They haven't been ... // We've / You've They've not been ...) |
For example:
| Question - ? | "Have you washed your face today?" |
|---|---|
| Positive Answer - Yes | " Yes, I have." |
| Negative Answer - No | " No, I haven't." |
| Question - ? | "Have you ever had a heart attack?" |
| Positive Answer - Yes | " Yes, I'm afraid I have." |
| Negative Answer - No | " No, thank goodness, I haven't." |
The use of have to
In addition to the two forms, there is another use for have as a modal verb; have to or have got to. This, of course, must be followed by another verb "We have to do something".
| Have to | Have got to | |
|---|---|---|
| Question - ? | "Do you have to leave early?" | "Have you got to leave early?" |
| Positive Answer - Yes | "Yes I have to." or "Yes I do" | "Yes I've got to." |
| Negative Answer - No | "No I don't have to." | "No I haven't got to." |
To have something done
If something is done for you, in other words you haven't actually done it yourself, we use the structure "to have something done".
For example:-
"He had a tooth out." (Only a masochist would go pull their own teeth out. We go to the dentist and he or she pulls our teeth out for us.)
"I have my hair cut once every six weeks." (I don't cut my own hair, my hairdresser cuts it for me.)
"My husband has the car serviced once a year." (He wouldn't have a clue how to service a modern car so, he takes it to the garage and they service it for us.)