Introduction
Have/have got is a verb used to express states like possession, relationship, illnesses and the characteristics of people and things.
When expressed in its affirmative form, the verb confirms something about the subject.
Form
The present simple tenses of have and have got are:
To have
Its structure, in the affirmative form, is:
Subject + have/has + object + …
- Have/has: in the affirmative form, the third person singular changes from have to has;
- There is no short version of have in the affirmative form for the third person singular.
| Subject | have/has | Short form |
|---|---|---|
| I | have | I‘ve |
| You | have | You‘ve |
| He | has | — |
| She | has | — |
| It | has | — |
| We | have | We‘ve |
| You | have | You‘ve |
| They | have | They‘ve |
To have got
Its structure, in the affirmative form, is:
Subject + have/has got + object + …
- Have/has: in the affirmative form, the third person singular changes from have to has.
| Subject | have/has got | Short form |
|---|---|---|
| I | have got | I’ve got |
| You | have got | You’ve got |
| He | has got | He’s got |
| She | has got | She’s got |
| It | has got | It’s got |
| We | have got | We’ve got |
| You | have got | You’ve got |
| They | have got | They’ve got |
Example
To have:
- I have lunch at 2 p.m.
- She has two dogs.
- We have a large family.
- They‘ve a big pool.
To have got:
- You have got things to do.
- She has got a new boyfriend.
- We’ve got some news.
- You’ve got a car.
Use
We use have and have got when we confirm that someone possesses someone/something. We use them also to express relationships, illnesses and characteristics of people and things. However, they’re not completely interchangeable.
To have:
- can be used to express actions;
- can be used to express past, present and future.
To have got:
- cannot be used to express actions;
- can only be used to express the present.
Summary
Have and have got, in the affirmative form, are used to confirm states such as posessions, relationships, illnesses and characteristics of the subject. However, we cannot use one instead of the other.
- Have can be used to express actions in the past, present and future. In the affirmative form, we start with the subject followed by have and an object. In the third person singular, we use has.
- Have got cannot be used to express actions and can be used just to express the present. In the affirmative form, we start with the subject followed by have got and an object. In the third person singular, we use has got.
For example:
— “I have lunch at 2 p.m.” / “I have got lunch at 2 p.m.” = We use have because it is an action.
— “I have a car.” / “I’ve got a car.” = We use have and have got because it is the possession of something in the present.
NOTE: Have is also used as an auxiliary verb in certain tenses to talk about actions. We cannot use have got for this. (“You have done it.” / “You have got done it.”).
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.