How many “haves“ do we have?
This post was prompted by one of my recent lessons. A student of mine asked me about the verb ‘have‘. He said that there are so many ways of using it that he finds it difficult to get it right. I didn’t expect the question but, of course, I didn’t hesitate and provided him with the best impromptu overview I could with regard to his knowledge and level. Then I thought about it some more and realized that this interesting verb might cause trouble to more students than just the one who asked, so I decided to write a post about it. I hope it will help you understand the complexity of this word.
‘Have‘ is a very interesting verb indeed. What makes it so special is the fact that it can be used as both a lexical verb and an auxiliary one. As a lexical verb it also has different meanings and can be integrated in various phrases. Let’s look at it in more detail. First of all, you might be wondering what the difference is between a lexical verb and an auxiliary. The lexical verb denotes an action, event or state; it has a certain meaning on its own. Consider the following examples (the main verbs are underlined):
- Rachel studies English.
- We are relaxing at home.
- Her car was stolen last night.
Auxiliary verbs, also called helping verbs, do not carry any meaning themselves (even though they add shades of meaning as parts of the tense they’re used in, but that’s a different story I’m going to tell you some other time). They are grammatical means that help us create negative sentences and questions in certain tenses. Look at the sentences below (the auxiliaries are underlined):
- I didn’t know she works here.
- He is waiting for her to come home.
- Have you ever sailed in the ocean? Yes, I have.
As we can see in the examples above, there are three auxiliary verbs in English – be, do and have. There’s also a special group of auxiliary verbs – modal auxiliaries – in which modality and helping function are combined. This group includes verbs such as can, should or must. OK, so now that we understand the difference between lexical and auxiliary verbs, we can go back to exploring have. We can use have as the lexical verb to talk about:
- possession
They have a large, classy house in the country.
She has three cars.
- relationships
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
He has a girlfriend.
- states
She has a lively personality.
- actions, experiences and situations
My neighbour has a bath every morning.
We’re having a party next weekend. (well, I wish we were 🙁 )
Every time I visit her, she has a house full of children.
- ilnesses
Be quiet, Mary is having a terrible headache.
I have a cold every winter.
- obligation or necessity
I have to go now, I mustn’t be late for my classes.
You have to study hard not to fail your exams.
In all the above sentences, have works as the main verb, so in case we want to make questions or negative sentences, we need to use an auxilary verb (underlined) depending on the tense. The part in [brackets] shows the part of the sentence we routinely omit.
A: They have a huge house.
B: Do they also have a garden.
A: Sure they do [have a garden]. You should see it!
A: How is it going at the party?
B: I‘m having a fabulous time.
A: Good for you. I‘m not [having a fabulous time], I’m studying for my exams.
A: It’s getting late. I should pack up and leave now.
B: Do you really have to go?
A: How long have you had this bike?
B: Ever since I can remember. I‘ve had it for ages.
A: What did you work on last week?
B: I‘d had a few meetings in Prague before moving on to our office in Olomouc.
The last example above is particularly interesting as it shows us how have can be used twice in one sentence in the present perfect and past perfect tense, which students sometimes find puzzling (the same way they hesitate to use do twice in sentences such as What do you do? or Don’t do that!).
And then there are a few structures that my students sometimes ask about and that can be a bit difficult to grasp for learners of English. These include have vs. have got, have something done and have to/have got to. I will explain these one by one.
Have vs. have got
This one can be tricky, especially because each of them behaves in a different way in terms of grammar. They both express the notion of possession, relationship, physical characteristics or illness; only have, however, can also describe actions in progress. Compare the following sentences, their meaning is exactly the same:
I have a headache. vs. I‘ve got a headache.
She has blue eyes. vs. She‘s got blue eyes.
He has a brother. vs. He‘s got a brother.
Have got is usually not used in the continuous form, with infinitives or participles. ‘Have ‘ in have got works as an auxiliary verb, so we don’t need another auxiliary to make negative sentences or questions (this is also where students often mistake the two and make mistakes).
I have a brother./I‘ve got a brother. not I’m having got a brother.
He has a brother. => Does he have a brother? Yes, he does.
She has got a dog. => Has she got a dog? No, she hasn’t.
Have got is not used to talk about the past or future, we simply use have:
A: Have you still got the flu? B: Yes, I have.
A: How long have you had it? B: For a few weeks.
A: Did you have it at Bill’s party? B: Well, I did.
A: How irresponsible!
Have something done
This is a structure (have + object + infinitive) that we call causative and we can use it when we need to say that someone does something for you, or, better yet, you make someone do something for you (usually for money or other favours). ‘Have‘ here is a main verb, not an auxiliary?
They definitely must have their car repaired. It makes strange noises.
When the lockdown is over, I will have my hair cut immediately.
Did you have your bike fixed?
She hasn’t had her room painted yet.
Have something done can also express experience (things that simply happen to us with us having no control over these events) – I had my car broken into. or Their son had their appendix removed last week.
Have to/have got to
You may already be familiar with the difference between must and its periphrastic form have to, but we can revise it a bit. We typically use have to, not must, when we want to say that some outside authority or circumstances make something necessary. When we want to express internal necessity, we use must. Have to is also used instead of must in other tenses than present and other circumstances in which grammatical restrictions do not allow us to use must, regardless of whether the obligation is internal or external.
I have to see my boss. => He has called me to his office.
I must see my boss. = > There’s something I would like to talk to him about.
I had to see my boss./I will have to see my boss./I might have to see my boss later today.
Have got to is a more informal version of have to and it’s used especially in spoken language. As ‘have‘ is an auxiliary verb here, we don’t need another auxiliary to create negative sentences and questions.
We haven’t got to do it now.
When have you got to be back?
Have got to is also used in exclamations expressing certainty – You‘ve got to be kidding me! It‘s got to be farther than that!
Summary
- Have is a really versatile and interesting verb, but there’s no need to be afraid of it.
- It can function as a lexical verb (it has a meaning) or an auxiliary one (it has a grammatical function).
- As a lexical verb, it can express the meaning of possession, relationship, action/situation/experience/state, illness, necessity or obligation.
- When we use have as a lexical verb, we need an auxiliary verb (be/do/have) in order to create a negative sentence or question.
- Have got means the same like have, but please remember that ‚have‘ is an auxiliary in this structure.
- We use have something done to say that someone else does something for us. Have is a lexical verb here.
- Have to expresses external obligations or is used in tenses other than present and other structures instead of must.
- Have got to means the same like have to, but it’s used much more frequently in informal spoken language. It’s an auxiliary here.
OK, do you have any questions? No? You’ve got to be kidding! Well, in that case I’m going to have something to eat, because I haven’t had lunch yet. I guess I have to take better care of myself. I’m having trouble maintaining a healthy routine. I’ve got too much work. Shall I cook or have something delivered from a restaurant nearby? You have to let me know in the comments 😉
The photo taken by myself.