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The
verb

to have

The
verb

have

is one of the two most frequently used verbs in English.  It
can be used in three different functions in the sentence.  

1

. As a main verb    

2

. As an auxiliary
verb, and 

3

As a modal auxiliary verb.

1.
The
verb

to have

as a
main verb

The
verb
is one of the core verbs of the English language, and can be used to
express possession ownership or acquisition.

In this usage, it is a can be a noun, a

1.1 Affirmative forms of the main
verb to have

Person

1st
/ 2nd sing
3rd
sing
Plural

Tense
I
/ you
he,
she, etc
we
/ you / they

Present.

have

has
have

Preterit
had

.Present
perfect
have
had

has
had
have had

Past
perfect
had had

Abbreviated forms of

have

:

As a main verb, 

have

and

has

are

not

normally abbreviated , though shortened forms

‘ve

or

‘s

are found
in some common expressions such as

“I’ve
an idea”.

Abbreviated forms are more common with the
present perfect and past perfect forms, but note that in this case it
is the

auxiliary

that is shortened, not the main verb which always
remains

had

.
(Example:

We’d all had
a good time

).
More

1.2. Negative forms of the

main verb

to have

.

In this usage, it is a transitive
verb , and must therefore be followed by a direct object. The direct object ofcan be a noun, a noun
group , a pronoun or a numeral.As a main verb,andarenormally abbreviated , though shortened formsorare found in some common expressions such asAbbreviated forms are more common with the present perfect and past perfect forms, but note that in this case it is thethat is shortened, not the main verb which always remains. (Example:).More examples below.

Take
care:  The normal negative forms of the main verb
have / has are do not
have and does
not have, or their shortened forms. These are not
the
same as the normal negative forms of the auxiliary
or modal
verb have.
The forms etc. are not
normally used as
negative forms of the main
verb have.
Contracted forms can be used in all styles of English, oral
and
written,  except for the most formal.

Person 

1st
/ 2nd sing
3rd
sing
Plural

tense
I
/ you
he,
she, etc
we
/ you / they

Present.
do
not have / don’t have
does not
have/ doesn’t have
don’t
have

Preterit
did
not have / didn’t have

.Present
perfect
haven’t had
hasn’t 
had
haven’t had

Past
perfect
hadn’t had

Exceptions:
There are some exceptions where the negative
form
of the main verb have
uses the negative structure of the auxiliary, notably some common
expressions
such as “I haven’t a
clue” (= I don’t know) or “I haven’t the time”;
but even with this second possible exception, it would be more normal
to say “I don’t have
(the) time” or “I
haven’t got time”.

Examples
of use of the verb

to
have

as
main verb

I

have

an
idea.
 

(possession)

My father

has

three brothers and two sisters.
The doctor

had

a lot of experience.  

He

has

three Rolls Royces and a Bentley.  

(ownership)

Where are the scissors?

Do
you have

them ?
The house

has

eight windows and three doors.
I’

ve had

three phone calls so far today.

 (acquisition)

Before getting into his car, he’

d
had

six glasses of whisky….
“Romeo and Juliet” is a tragedy; it

doesn’t
have

a happy ending.
I

don’t have

any brothers or sisters.
We

haven’t had

any complaints so far.
If he

hadn’t had

those mushrooms, he wouldn’t be ill.

1.3. Have or

have
got ?

Particularly in spoken English,

have

as a main verb, meaning

own

or

possess or receive

 
can be consolidated by

adding

the
participle

got

.
 Here are the same example sentences, consolidated by

got

when this is a
possible alternative – notably in the present tense.

 
  Replacing

the past form

had

by

got

is a
different
question. Though it is sometimes possible when

had

means

received

(=acquisition)

,
in other cases

(in
italics)

  this change of verb is either
impossible, or will change the meaning of what is being said.

I

‘ve got

an idea.
My father

has got

three brothers and two sisters.

The
doctor

had

a lot of experience. (had = possessed)

 

The doctor

had
got

a lot of experience. (had got= had acquired)

He

has got

three Rolls Royces and a Bentley.
Where are the scissors?

Have
you got

them ?
The house

has got

eight windows and three doors.
I’ve

got

three phone calls so far today. 

Before
getting into his car, he’

d
had

six
glasses of whisky…. (had = drunk)

“Romeo and Juliet” is a tragedy; it

hasn’t
got

a happy ending.
I

haven’t got

any brothers or sisters.
We

haven’t got

any complaints so far.

If
he

hadn’t
had

those mushrooms, he wouldn’t be ill.  (had = eaten)

For more about this, see

2.
The
verb

have

as
auxiliary

2.1. Past forms with have

The verb

have

is used as an auxiliary to form the present perfect and past perfect
forms of other verbs.

Sample
verb “walk”
1st
sing
2nd
sing
3rd
sing
Plural

Present

perfect
I have walked
you have walked
he
/ she… has walked
we / you / they have walked

Past

perfect
I had walked
You had walked
He/
she … had walked
we / you / they had walked

Present
perfect progressive
I
have been walking
You
have been walking
He
/ she… have been walking
we / you / they have been walking

Past
perfect progressive
I
had been walking
You
had been walking
he
/ she … had
been walking
We
had been walking

Other tenses can be formed, including tenses with modal auxiliaries:
examples
   

2.2. Contracted forms of the auxiliary
verb 

have

.

As an

auxiliary

,

have

,

has

and

had

are
frequently contracted to the forms

‘ve,
‘s

and

‘d

,
when this is possible – i..e. after

pronouns

,
but it depends on the type of English used.

• In
  written English,

  contracted forms are possible but unusual
  after pronoun subjects; contracted forms are

  not
  used

  after noun
  subjects.

• In oral
  / spoken English

  contracted forms are normal but not
  essential, after pronoun subjects, even in formal speech. Even the
  Queen of England would be  likely to say “

  I’ve had a good day”

  ,
  rather than

  “I have had
  a good
  day.

  “
  However after

  noun

  subjects, contracted forms may be heard, even if they would not be
  written
  For example,
  A newspaper journalist would write “

  The
  Prime Minister has appointed a new  team

  .”
  but a TV journalist would say: “

  The
  Prime Minister’s appointed a new team.

  “

See more

2.3. Negative forms of the auxiliary
verb 

have

.

The standard negative forms of the

auxiliaries

have

, has

and

had

 are

haven’t

,
and

hasn’t

and

hadn’t.

  Example:

 I
haven’t finished my lunch.

 More

Take
care:

Forms using

do

(

don’t have, doesn’t have

etc) are

never

used as negative forms of the

auxiliary

verb

have

,
only of the

main

verb

have

.
(see above).

Regional
variants:

A speaker from England will say :

I haven’t seen it but I hadn’t told you

but a speaker from Scotland would be likely to say :

I’ve not seen it, but I’d not
told you

  or even

I
havna seen it, but I hadna told you.

Ain’t

Also note the word

ain’t

,
 a popular alternative to

haven’t

or

hasn’t

, as used in the Rolling Stones’ classic
hit  “

I ain’t
got no satisfaction

“.

2.4.
Passive  forms 

Verb forms using the auxiliary

have

can also be put into the passive.

Sample
verb

“

Take

“

Present
perfect passive
Past
perfect passive

1st
sing
I
have been taken
I
had been taken

3rd
sing
He
/ she … has been taken
He
/ she … had been taken

Other tenses can be formed, including tenses with modal auxiliaries:
examples
   

You
could
have been seriously injured.

 
  They must have been dreaming.

Examples
of use of the verb

have

as an auxiliary

I

have finished

my
lunch / I

‘ve finished

my
lunch.
The president

has chosen

his new team.
   The president

‘s
chosen

his new team

(this
form is possible in spoken language, but it would not normally be
written) 

The children

had gone

home five minutes earlier than usual.
The captain

had told

his team to play  hard in the final minutes of the game.
The president

has not

yet

arrived

/ The president

hasn’t

yet

arrived

Until I lived in London, I

hadn’t been

on a
double-decker bus.

Have

you

seen

the light Mr. Jones ?

Hasn’t

the
rain

stopped

yet ?

 

3.
The
verb

have to 

as a
modal verb

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Particularly in spoken English,as a main verb, meaningorcan be consolidated bythe participle. Here are the same example sentences, consolidated bywhen this is a possible alternative – notably in the present tense.the past formbyis a different question. Though it is sometimes possible whenmeans, in other casesthis change of verb is either impossible, or will change the meaning of what is being said.For more about this, see Get and got
The verbis used as an auxiliary to form the present perfect and past perfect forms of other verbs.Other tenses can be formed, including tenses with modal auxiliaries: examplesAs anandare frequently contracted to the formsand, when this is possible – i..e. after, but it depends on the type of English used.See more examples below.The standard negative forms of theandare, andandExample:More examples below.Forms usingetc) areused as negative forms of theverb, only of theverb. (see above).A speaker from England will say :but a speaker from Scotland would be likely to say :or evenAlso note the word, a popular alternative toor, as used in the Rolling Stones’ classic hit “”.Verb forms using the auxiliarycan also be put into the passive.Other tenses can be formed, including tenses with modal auxiliaries: examplesFor information on “have to” as a modal verb, see Modals of obligation

Have – Has – Go – Goes

Simple Present Tense

Conjugation of Have and Go

To Have = To show possession / a quality

To Go = to show movement (travel) in a specific direction

Subject
To Have
The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they
have
an old bike.
he / she / it
has
a new car.

Subject
To Go
The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they
go
to class every day. he / she / it
goes
to the movies on Friday.

Usually we only add ‘S‘ to a verb when we conjugate it in the third person but notice how To Have and To Go are slightly
irregular (though they still both end in S).

Have and Go in Negative Sentences

To make a negative sentence in English with To Have and To Go we use Don’t or Doesn’t
followed by Have or Go (never Has or Goes).

Affirmative: You have a pen.
Negative: You don’t have a pen.

You will see that we add don’t between the subject and the verb. We use Don’t when the
subject is I, you, we or they.

Affirmative: He has a pencil.
Negative: He doesn’t have a
pencil.

When the subject is he, she or it, we add doesn’t between the subject and the verb to make a negative sentence. Notice that we
don’t use the normal third person conjugation (has, goes) in negative sentences. We use the base form of the infinitive as seen below.

Word Order of Negative Sentences

The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English
in the Present Tense using Don’t or Doesn’t.

Subject
don’t/doesn’t To Have*
The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they
don’t have cereal for lunch.
he / she / it
doesn’t

Subject
don’t/doesn’t
To Go*
The Rest of the sentence
I / you / we / they
don’t go
to classes every day.
he / she / it
doesn’t

* Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the
infinitive To have it is just the have part.

Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have,
to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.

Examples of Negative Sentences with Have:

• You don’t have a clue.
• John doesn’t have many friends.
• We don’t have time for a rest.
• It doesn’t have four wheels.
• They don’t have the correct answers.
• She doesn’t have a nice dress.

Examples of Negative Sentences with Go:

• You don’t go to university.
• John doesn’t go to parties.
• We don’t go to work on the weekend.
• It doesn’t go fast.
• They don’t go to the beach.
• She doesn’t go to church.

Questions with Have and Go

To make a question in English with To Have and To Go, we normally use Do or Does at the beginning of the question.

Affirmative: You have a girlfriend.
Question: Do you have a
girlfriend?

You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use Do when the subject is I,
you, we or they.

Affirmative: She has a boyfriend.
Question: Does she have a boyfriend?

When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that we don’t
use the normal third person conjugation (has, goes) in questions. We use the base form of the infinitive as seen below.

Word Order of Questions with Do and Does

The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using Do or Does.

Do/Does
Subject
Verb*
The Rest of the sentence
Do
I / you / we / they
have a new bike?
Does
he / she / it

Do/Does
Subject
Verb*
The Rest of the sentence
Do
I / you / we / they
go to school?
Does
he / she / it

*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have
it is just the have part.

Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.

Examples of Questions with Have and Go:

• Do you have a dictionary?
• Does Mary have a dictionary?
• Do we go to all the meetings?
• Does she go to all the meetings?

Short Answers with Have and Go

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions
Short Answer
(Affirmative)
Short Answer
(Negative)
Do you have a car?
Do you go to church?
Yes, I do.
No, I don’t.
Do I have time?
Do I go to work today?
Yes, you do.
No, you don’t.
Do you both have time?
Do you both go to school?
Yes, we do.
No, we don’t.
Do they have a car?
Do they go to the pub? Yes, they do.
No, they don’t.
Does he have a car?
Does he go to university? Yes, he does.
No, he doesn’t.
Does she have a car?
Does she go to the gym? Yes, she does.
No, she doesn’t.
Does it have four wheels?
Does it go slow?
Yes, it does.
No, it doesn’t.

However, if a question word such as who, when, where, why,
which or how is used in the question, you can not use the short answers above to respond to the question.

Next activities

To Practice these rules try our interactive game at: Have – Has – Go – Goes

NEW: Download our free Have Has Go Goes Worksheet (in PDF).
You can check the answers to this worksheet here: Have Has Go Goes Answers.

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