Verb "To Have" in English

How to Use "To Have" in English

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The verb "to have" is a common verb in English. It has 4 different forms:

have, has, having, had

"To have" is an unusual verb because it can function as:

(1) A main verb

I have an apple.

(2) An auxiliary verb

I have eaten an apple.

tense

(3) A modal verb

I have to eat an apple.

Table of Contents

"To Have" As a Main Verb
"To Have" As an Auxiliary Verb
"To Have" As a Modal Verb
The 5 Forms of a Verb
Negative Forms of "To Have"
Test Time!
Conjugating "To Have" Fully

"To Have" As a Main Verb

As a main verb, "to have" has many meanings, but most of the time, it will mean "to possess" or "to experience". For example:

I have a dog.
She has a Mathematics degree.
I had a good day.

"To Have" As an Auxiliary Verb

As an auxiliary verb (or helping verb), the meaning comes from the verb it is helping. For example:

I have worked all day.
Sarah has flown back to Argentina.
He had heard the truth.

When "to have" is used as an auxiliary verb, it is often shortened - especially in everyday speech.

I've worked all day.

have

've

Sarah's flown back to Argentina.

has

He'd heard the truth.

had

The new words created by adding shortened versions of "to have" are called contractions.

More about "To Have" As an Auxiliary Verb

When used as an auxiliary verb, "to have" helps to show the tense of the verb it is helping.

The "has" and "have" forms are used to show the present perfect tense.

"has" or "have"

[past participle]

For example:

Tom has cleaned the car.

The "had" form is used to show the past perfect tense.

"had"

[past participle]

For example:

Tom and Alice had cleaned the car.

"To Have" As a Modal Verb

When used as a modal verb, "have to" means "must." It expresses an obligation or necessity.

[form of "have"]

"to"

[base form of verb]

Tom and Alice have to clean the car.

The 5 Forms of a Verb

As we've covered, there are 4 different versions of the verb "to have." They are "have," "has," "had," and "having." There are no other versions of the verb.

This table shows where these feature in the 5 grammatical forms of a verb:

Form	To Have	Alternative Name
Base Form	have	Infinitive Form
Present Tense Forms	has, have	[no alternative name]
Past Forms	had	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	having	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	had	[no alternative name]

"Has" and "have" are the present tense forms.

I have a dog.	We have a dog.
You have a dog.	You have a dog.
He/she/it has a dog.	They have a dog.

"Had" is the past tense form.

I had a cat.	We had a cat.
You had a cat.	You had a cat.
He/she/it had a cat.	They had a cat.

"Had" is also the past participle form.

We have had a wonderful time.

"Having" is the present participle form.

The horses were having fun.

Having seen that, I now believe in ghosts.

Negative Forms of "To Have"

Creating the negative forms of "to have" is difficult for leaners because the negative form depends whether "to have" is a main verb, an auxiliary verb, or a modal verb.

form	main verb or modal verb	auxiliary verb
have	do not have (don't have)	have not (haven't)
has	does not have (doesn't have)	has not (hasn't)
had	did not have (didn't have)	had not (hadn't)
having	not having	not having

More about "To Have"

The verb "have" is an irregular verb. (This means that "have" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

Conjugating "To Have" Fully

The tables below show how "to have" conjugates in all 12 of the past, present, and future tenses. Bear in mind that "to have" is used as both the auxiliary verb and the main verb in these conjugation tables.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	had had had had had had The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was having were having was having were having were having were having The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had had had had had had had had had had had had The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been having had been having had been having had been having had been having had been having The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	have have has have have have The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am having are having is having are having are having are having The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have had have had has had have had have had have had The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been having have been having has been having have been having have been having have been having The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will have will have will have will have will have will have The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be having will be having will be having will be having will be having will be having The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have had will have had will have had will have had will have had will have had The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been having will have been having will have been having will have been having will have been having will have been having The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.