Have: forms
Haveis an irregular verb. Its three forms arehave, had, had. The present simplethird person singular ishas:
We usuallyhavebreakfast at about eight.
Ihada strange dream last night.
Shehasquite dark hair.
Have: uses
We usehaveas a main verb and an auxiliary verb.
See also:
Haveas a main verb
Haveas an auxiliary verb
Have: typical error
We don’t usehavein the third person singular of the present simple:
A meetinghasbeen set up for Monday, 4pm.
Not:A meeting have been…
Haveas a main verb
The mainverbhavehas lots of uses.
Possession
We usehaveto talk about things that we own or possess:
Do youhavea car?
Theyhavetwo dogs, Scruffy and Milly.
See also:
Have gotandhave
Events, actions, experiences and activities
I’m going tohavea bath.
Let’shavea party to celebrate your birthday!
Wehavea break at 10 am.
Did youhavea nice time in London?
Eating food and meals
Wehada wonderful meal in the new restaurant on Elm Street.
A:Two coffees, please.
B:Large or small?
A:Er large. You want a large one, do you?
C:Mhm. Can Ihavea cake as well?
Shall wehavelunch together sometime?
Days or parts of days
Havea nice day!
Ihadsuch a tough day.
Did youhavea nice morning(orafternoon,evening,birthday,holiday)?
Hygiene routines and therapies
Ihada shower and got ready to go out.
He needs tohavea shave both in the morning and in the evening.
The doctor recommended that I shouldhavemassages every week on my back.
Conversations and interactions
I need tohavea chat with Joan about your hours.
Theyhada big argument about money.
The chef and the managerhada row in the kitchen and everyone in the restaurant could hear them shouting.
Sleeping
Shehada rest in the afternoon.
Did youhavea good night’s sleep?
I used tohaveterrible dreams when I was young.
Accidents and problems with cars
Shehadan accident when she was young. She fell off a horse.
Theyhada crash but luckily no one was injured.
Wehada breakdown on the motorway once.
Thankfully, I have neverhada puncture.
Travel
Theyhavea 15-hour flight from Rome.
Havea safe trip.
Did youhavea pleasant journey?
Other common expressions withhave
have ababy | have a think |
have a try | have a problem |
have a go | have a feeling/sense |
have an operation | have a clue/idea |
have a long wait | have a laugh (informal, a good time) |
have a shock | have a surprise |
See also:
Have gotandhave
Have: using the continuous form
We can use the continuous form to talk about an activity that is happening:
She’shavinga bath right now. She’ll call you back.
We use the continuous form to talk about an activity that is planned for a future time:
I’mhavinglunch with Miriam on Wednesday.
They’rehavinga surprise party for Mike on Saturday night.
She’shavinga baby in June.
We use the continuous form ofhavewhen the event or action is ongoing or repeated:
She washavingnightmares for a year after the accident.(A nightmare is a bad dream.)
I’ve beenhavingdiscussions with my boss about a transfer to Edinburgh. I think he’s going to agree.
He’shavingtrouble with his car.
See also:
Present continuous (I am working)
Present perfect continuous (I have been working)
Past continuous (I was working)
Past perfect continuous (I had been working)
Haveas an auxiliary verb
Haveis one of three auxiliary verbsin English:be,doandhave. We usehavebefore -edforms to make the present perfect and past perfect.
Present perfect | Past perfect |
have+ -edform | had+ -edform |
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We usehave, notdo, to make questions and negatives of perfect verb forms.
Present perfect | Past perfect |
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See also:
Verbs: types
Present perfect simple (I have worked)
Past perfect simple (I had worked)