Learn English Basic

Lesson 14. The Complete Guide to Verb TO HAVE in English

The Verb To Have in English

After the verb to be, ‘the verb to have’ ranks as the second most commonly used verb in English. The verb to have in English can be used as the main verb or an auxiliary verb.

 

Verb Forms

Simple Present Tense

[Click on the subtitle to learn more about simple present tense]

Positive Positive (Contracted) Negative Negative

(Contracted)

Question
I have I’ve I do not have (A,B)

I have not (B)

I don’t have (A,B)

I haven’t (B)

Do I have?
You have You’ve You do not have (A,B)

You have not (B)

You don’t have (A,B)

You haven’t (B)

Do you have?
We have We’ve We do not have (A,B)

We have not (B)

We don’t have (A,B)

We haven’t (B)

Do we have?
They have They’ve They do not have (A,B)

They have not (B)

They don’t have (A,B)

They haven’t (B)

Do they have?
He has He’s He does not have (A,B)

He has not (B)

He doesn’t have (A,B)

He hasn’t (B)

Does he have?
She has She’s She does not have (A,B)

She has not (B)

She doesn’t have (A,B)

She hasn’t (B)

Does she have?
It has It’s It does not have (A,B)

It has not (B)

It doesn’t have (A,B)

It hasn’t (B)

Does it have?

Note:

– There is no contracted form of the verb to have in question form.

– (‘s) contraction can be used for indicating both the verb to be ‘is’ and the verb to have ‘has’.

– (A,B) means that it is used in both American and British English.

– (B) means that it is acceptable in British English.

– Auxiliary verb only used the version of haven’t and hasn’t (Not: do not have or does not have).

 

Simple Past Tense

Positive Positive (Contracted) Negative Negative

(Contracted)

Question
I had I’d I did not have I didn’t have Did I have?
You had You’d You did not have You didn’t have Did you have?
We had We’d We did not have We didn’t have Did we have?
They had They’d They did not have They didn’t have Did they have?
He had He’d He did not have He didn’t have Did he have?
She had She’d She did not have She didn’t have Did she have?
It had It’d It did not have It didn’t have Did it have?

Note:

– There is no contracted form of the verb to have in question form.

– The contraction form is normally used in conversation but not in formal writing.

– (‘d) contraction can be used for indicating both the verb ‘would’ and the verb to have ‘had’.

 

Present Continuous Tense

Positive Positive (Contracted) Negative Negative

(Contracted)

Question
I am having I’m having I am not having I’m not having Am I having?
You are having You’re having You are not having You’re not having

You aren’t having

Are you having?
We are having We’re having We are not having We’re not having

We aren’t having

Are we having?
They are having They’re having They are not having They’re not having

They aren’t having

Are they having?
He is having He’s having He is not having He’s not having

He isn’t having

Is he having?
She is having She’s having She is not having She’s not having

She isn’t having

Is she having?
It is having It’s having It is not having It’s not having

It isn’t having

Is it having?

Note: There is no contracted form of the verb to have in question form.

 

Past Continuous Tense

Positive Negative Negative

(Contracted)

Question
I was having I was not having I wasn’t having Was I having?
You were having You were not having You weren’t having Were you having?
We were having We were not having We weren’t having Were we having?
They were having They were not having They weren’t having Were they having?
He was having He was not having He wasn’t having Was he having?
She was having She was not having She wasn’t having Was she having?
It was having It was not having It wasn’t having Was it having?

Note: There are no contracted form of the verb to have in positive and question forms.

 

Present Perfect Tense

Positive Positive (Contracted) Negative Negative

(Contracted)

Question
I have had I’ve had I have not had I haven’t had Have I had?
You have had You’ve had You have not had You haven’t had Have you had?
We have had We’ve had We have not had We haven’t had Have we had?
They have had They’ve had They have not had They haven’t had Have they had?
He has had He’s had He has not had He hasn’t had Has he had?
She has had She’s had She has not had She hasn’t had Has she had?
It has had It’s had It has not had It hasn’t had Has it had?

Note: There is no contracted form of the verb to have in question form.

 

Past Perfect Tense

Positive Positive (Contracted) Negative Negative

(Contracted)

Question
I had had I’d had I had not had I hadn’t had Had I had?
You had had You’d had You had not had You hadn’t had Had you had?
We had had We’d had We had not had We hadn’t had Had we had?
They had had They’d had They had not had They hadn’t had Had they had?
He had had He’d had He had not had He hadn’t had Had he had?
She had had She’d had She had not had She hadn’t had Had she had?
It had had It’d had It had not had It hadn’t had Had it had?

Note: There is no contracted form of the verb to have in question form.

 

Have/Have Not Questions

In order to construct have/have not questions, we use the auxiliary verb ‘do, does, did’, depending on the subject and tense. Examples:

Positive: I have a dog.

Question: Do you have a dog?

 

Positive: She has long hair.

Question: Does she have long hair?

 

Positive: They had a party last night.

Question: Did they have a party last night?

 

Have/Have Not Answers

To answer the questions above, we can use the following:

Positive Answer: Yes, I have a dog (Yes, I have).

Negative Answer: No, I don’t have a dog (No, I don’t).

 

Positive Answer: Yes, she has long hair (Yes, she has).

Negative Answer: No, she doesn’t have long hair (No, she doesn’t).

 

Positive Answer: Yes, they had a party last night (Yes, they had).

Negative Answer: No, they didn’t have a party last night (No, they didn’t).

 

Main Verb

As a main verb, ‘the verb to have’ shows possession, characteristic, activity, etc. Examples:

She has a bakery.

[possession].

 

I have brown eyes.

[ability].

 

He had a shower.

[activity].

 

In fact, ‘the verb to have’ is generally used for substituting ‘the verb to eat’ and ‘the verb to drink’.

We have scrambled eggs every morning.

[We eat scrambled eggs every morning].

 

I had a cup of tea in the afternoon.

[I drank a cup of tea in the afternoon].

 

Auxiliary Verb

The verb to have can be used as an auxiliary verb in order to form present perfect tense and past perfect tense.

Structure: Have/Has/Had + Verb 3

 

Examples:

Positive: I have lived in Switzerland for 20 years.

Negative: I haven’t lived in Switzerland for 20 years.

Question: Have you lived in Switzerland for 20 years?

[Verb 1 = live; Verb 3 = lived].

 

Positive: It has been a long time since we talked.

Negative: It hasn’t been a long time since we talked.

Question: Has it been a long time since we talked?

[Verb 1 = to be; Verb 3 = been].

 

Positive: We had walked for all day.

Negative: We hadn’t walked for all day.

Question: Had we walked for all day.

[Verb 1 = walk; Verb 3 = walked].

 

Note: Verb 3 is also known as past participle form of the verb.

 

Contraction Forms

When we use ‘have/has/had’ as the main verb, they are not abbreviated.

I have two movie tickets.

[Not: I’ve two movie tickets].

 

We had lunch in a French restaurant.

[Not: We’d lunch in a French restaurant].

 

As an auxiliary verb, ‘have/has/had’ are usually used in spoken English rather than in written English.

 

Contraction forms are normally used in the perfect form tenses.

 

Additional Notes

In addition, ‘to have’ can also serve as a modal verb. In general, the modal verb to have carries a meaning of something that is obligatory. We will cover the full lesson in the upcoming post.

 

Let’s learn English today! Join us at LingoCards!

Vinvin Zhang

Share
Published by
Vinvin Zhang