The Verb To Have

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

The 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)

Have is often used to indicate possession (I have) or (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."