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."

In this form it does not take the continuous form (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.

Question Positive Statement (spoken) Negative Statement (spoken)

Singular

Have I? I have (I've) I have not (I haven't/I've not)

Has he/she/it? He/she/it has (He/she/it 's) He/she/it has not (He/she/it hasn't)

Have you? You have (You've) You have not (You haven't/You've not)

Had I / he / she / it / you? 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

Have we / you / they? We / You / They have (We've) We / You / They have not (We / You / They haven't // We've / You've not)

Have you? You have (You've) You have not (You haven't/You've not)

Have they? They have (They've) They have not (They haven't/They've not)

Had I / he / she / it / you? 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)

As mentioned about "have" is often used to indicate possession (I have) or you might see (I have got).

Examples

Have Have got

Question - ? "Do you have a car?" or "Have you 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 studied English for five years;” or “I have never been to America.” "I have eaten."

Present Perfect

I have been a teacher. You have been a student. He / She has been a student. It has been nice. We have been students. They have been students.

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:-

"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.)