Verb to have

The verb "have" is one of the most essential and versatile verbs in English—and one of the trickiest to master. Unlike most verbs, English offers 2 parallel present systems for expressing possession, and knowing when each one works (and when one does NOT work) is the key to using "have" correctly at every level.

• System 1 — The Standard System: have / has (uses do/does support for negatives and questions)
• System 2 — The British System: have got / has got (uses have/has directly for negatives and questions)
• The Critical Boundary: "have got" is for possession and states ONLY—it cannot replace "have" in action expressions like have breakfast, have a shower, or have a look
• The Past: had (both systems collapse into one—there is no "did have got")

This A1–A2 lesson with have and has exercises, have got exercises, and have vs have got exercises online covers all five key areas in sequence. Printable verb to have exercises PDF worksheets are also available for each set.

Don't confuse "have" (possession) with these:

• "have to / has to" — This means obligation (= must): I have to go. This is a modal structure, not about possession. See Obligation: must / have to / need to.
• "have" as a perfect auxiliary — I have eaten. Here "have" is a helper verb forming the present perfect, not a main verb expressing possession. See Present Perfect.

This lesson focuses on "have" as a main verb (possession, states, and action expressions) and "have got" as its British English equivalent.

have and has: Present Forms

The Standard System uses have or has as the main verb, with do / does as the auxiliary for negatives and questions. This system works in all varieties of English.

Subject–Verb Agreement

Key rule: Use has with he / she / it (and singular nouns). Use have with everyone else.

Negative Forms: don't have / doesn't have

For negatives, add don't (I/you/we/they) or doesn't (he/she/it) before have:

After don't / doesn't, always use the base form have (never has):

• ✅ She doesn't have a car.
• ❌ She doesn't has a car.

Questions: Do/Does + subject + have?

To ask a question, use Do (I/you/we/they) or Does (he/she/it) + subject + have:

Examples:

• How many rooms does the hotel have?
• Do your children have their own bedrooms?
• Does the flat have a balcony?

Short Answers

Important: The short answer mirrors the auxiliary: "Do you have...?" → "Yes, I do" (NOT "Yes, I have").

⚠️ Error Hot Zone: Mixing Negation Patterns

A very common mistake is using "haven't / hasn't" as the negative of "have" in the Standard System:

"haven't / hasn't" belong to the "have got" system (System 2). In the Standard System, always use don't have / doesn't have.

👉 Practice have / has exercises with answers →

have got and has got: Affirmative & Negative

The British System uses have got / has got to express possession and states. It is very common in British English, both in speech and informal writing. The meaning is identical to System 1 for possession.

Affirmative Forms and Contractions

Key rule: Use has got / 's got with he / she / it. Use have got / 've got with everyone else.

Negative Forms: haven't got / hasn't got

Negatives are formed with haven't / hasn't — never with don't / doesn't:

• ✅ They haven't got a garden.
• ❌ They don't got a garden. (This form does NOT exist in English.)

⚠️ Error Hot Zone: "don't got" Does Not Exist

Some learners try to use "don't got" or "doesn't got" by analogy with "don't have." This is always incorrect:

👉 Practice have got exercises with answers →

have got: Questions & Short Answers

In the British System, questions are formed by inverting have / has and the subject—no auxiliary do/does is needed.

Yes/No Questions

Pattern: Have / Has + subject + got + ?

More examples:

• Have your parents got a garden?
• Has the hotel got a swimming pool?
• Has Tom got a new job?

Wh-Questions

When a question word is used, it comes first:

Pattern: Question word + have/has + subject + got?

• How many rooms has the house got?
• What kind of car has he got?
• How much money have you got?

Short Answers

⚠️ Error Hot Zone #1: "Do you have got?" — Never Mix the Two Systems

When you use "have got," form questions with Have / Has, NOT with Do / Does:

Both "Do you have a car?" and "Have you got a car?" are correct—but they use different structures. You cannot mix them.

⚠️ Error Hot Zone #2: Short Answer Trap

After "Have you got...?" questions, the short answer uses have / haven't—NOT do / don't:

Why? The short answer echoes the auxiliary in the question. "Have you got...?" starts with "Have"—so the answer is "Yes, I have / No, I haven't."

👉 Practice have got interrogative form exercises with answers →

have vs have got: The Action Boundary

This is the most important section in the lesson—and the most common source of mistakes even among intermediate learners.

For possession and states, both systems are interchangeable:

But for action expressions, ONLY System 1 works:

When "have" describes an activity or experience (not possession), "have got" is NOT possible:

Common Action Expressions — Only "have" (Never "have got")

Why Can't You Use "have got" for Actions?

"Have got" expresses a state — something you possess or something that is true right now. It has no idea of activity or process. Action expressions like "have breakfast" describe something you do, not something you possess. That's why "have got" cannot replace "have" in these expressions.

Quick rule: If you can substitute "eat," "take," or "do" — it's an action. Use "have" only.

• "have breakfast" = eat breakfast → action → only "have"
• "have a car" = possess a car → possession → either system

After Auxiliary Verbs: Base Form "have" Only

After modal verbs and other auxiliaries, always use the base form have (never "have got"):

👉 Practice have vs have got exercises with answers →

Past Tense: had

In the past, both systems collapse into a single form: had. There is no "did have got" or "had got" as a past of "have got."

Affirmative: had

Use had for all subjects—there is only one past form:

Examples:

• She had long hair when she was a child.
• They had a small flat in London before they moved.
• I had a great time at the party last night.
• He had a terrible headache yesterday.

Negative: didn't have

For negatives in the past, use didn't have (never "hadn't got"):

Questions: Did + subject + have?

For past questions, use Did + subject + have:

Short Answers in the Past

Time Markers for the Past

These words signal that you need had / didn't have:

• yesterday — He had a terrible headache yesterday.
• last (night/week/year) — We had a lovely dinner at that Italian restaurant last Friday.
• ago — They had a small dog a few years ago.
• when I was young / a child — When I was young, we had a dog called Max.
• before — They had a small flat in London before they moved.

For more on using the past simple tense, see Past Simple.

👉 Practice had exercises + Mixed Review →

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Quick Summary

The Two Present Systems — Side by Side

The Past: One Form Only

The Action Boundary — When "have got" Does NOT Work

Contraction Quick Reference

Practice Tips

1. Learn the two systems as complete patterns, not individual words Don't just memorize "have / has" in isolation. Learn the full pattern as a unit: "I have — I don't have — Do I have?" and "I've got — I haven't got — Have I got?" Practise both columns of the Quick Summary table aloud.

2. Test every "have" sentence with the action vs. possession check Before using "have got," ask yourself: "Is this possession or an action?" If you can replace "have" with "eat," "take," or "do" (have breakfast = eat breakfast), use System 1 only. This one habit prevents the most common mistake in the whole topic.

3. Practise contraction drills for have got The contractions I've got, she's got, we've got, they've got, he's got sound very natural in spoken British English. Read them aloud in context: "I've got a headache. She's got a new phone. They've got a dog." Getting comfortable with contractions will help you sound natural.

4. Remember the short answer rule by system

• After "Do you have...?" → "Yes, I do / No, I don't"
• After "Have you got...?" → "Yes, I have / No, I haven't"

A simple way to remember: the short answer always echoes the first auxiliary in the question.

5. For the past, forget "have got" completely When you move to the past, there is only one system: had / didn't have / Did ... have? There is no past form of "have got." If you find yourself writing "had got" or "did have got," stop — always simplify to "had" or "didn't have."

Practice All Exercises

Complete 100 have and has exercises with answers across 5 progressive sets. Each set includes have got has got exercises and have vs have got exercises online in multiple choice format. Printable verb to have exercises PDF worksheets are available for every set.

Total: 100 to have exercises with answers across 5 progressive sets, from beginner (A1) to elementary (A2) level. ESL exercises have has, have has got exercises, and have got exercises are all available online or as printable worksheets.

👉 Start with Set 1: have and has exercises →