Have

Have: forms

Have is an irregular verb. Its three forms are have, had, had. The present simple third person singular is has:

• We usually have breakfast at about eight.
• I had a strange dream last night.
• She has quite dark hair.

Have: uses

We use have as a main verb and an auxiliary verb.

See also

• Have as a main verb
• Have as an auxiliary verb

Have: typical error

We don’t use have in the third person singular of the present simple:

• A meeting has been set up for Monday, 4pm.
• Not: A meeting have been …

Have as a main verb

The main verb have has lots of uses.

Possession

We use have to talk about things that we own or possess:

• Do you have a car?
• They have two dogs, Scruffy and Milly.

See also

• Have got and have

Events, actions, experiences and activities

• I’m going to have a bath.
• Let’s have a party to celebrate your birthday!
• We have a break at 10 am.
• Did you have a nice time in London?

Eating food and meals

• We had a 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 I have a cake as well?
• Shall we have lunch together sometime?

Days or parts of days

• Have a nice day!
• I had such a tough day.
• Did you have a nice morning (or afternoon, evening, birthday, holiday)?

Hygiene routines and therapies

• I had a shower and got ready to go out.
• He needs to have a shave both in the morning and in the evening.
• The doctor recommended that I should have massages every week on my back.

Conversations and interactions

• I need to have a chat with Joan about your hours.
• They had a big argument about money.
• The chef and the manager had a row in the kitchen and everyone in the restaurant could hear them shouting.

Sleeping

• She had a rest in the afternoon.
• Did you have a good night’s sleep?
• I used to have terrible dreams when I was young.

Accidents and problems with cars

• She had an accident when she was young. She fell off a horse.
• They had a crash but luckily no one was injured.
• We had a breakdown on the motorway once.
• Thankfully, I have never had a puncture.

Travel

• They have a 15-hour flight from Rome.
• Have a safe trip.
• Did you have a pleasant journey?

Other common expressions with have

have a baby	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 got and have

Have: using the continuous form

We can use the continuous form to talk about an activity that is happening:

• She’s having a 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’m having lunch with Miriam on Wednesday.
• They’re having a surprise party for Mike on Saturday night.
• She’s having a baby in June.

We use the continuous form of have when the event or action is ongoing or repeated:

• She was having nightmares for a year after the accident. (A nightmare is a bad dream.)
• I’ve been having discussions with my boss about a transfer to Edinburgh. I think he’s going to agree.
• He’s having trouble 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)

Have as an auxiliary verb

Have is one of three auxiliary verbs in English: be, do and have. We use have before -ed forms to make the present perfect and past perfect.

Present perfect	Past perfect
have + -ed form	had + -ed form
They have moved house.	We had paid in advance.
He’s studied a lot. (full form: has)	I’d known her for years. (full form: had)

We use have, not do, to make questions and negatives of perfect verb forms.

Present perfect	Past perfect
Have you seen Maria?	Had they been waiting for long?
Not: Do you have …	Not: Did they had …
I haven’t eaten yet.	We hadn’t brought a map.
Not: I don’t have …	Not: We didn’t had …

See also

• Verbs: types
• Present perfect simple (I have worked)
• Past perfect simple (I had worked)