Have - Present Simple

Have – Present Simple (have, has)

Have is one of the busiest verbs in English. It expresses ownership, family relationships, physical features and illnesses, and it appears in dozens of fixed expressions such as have breakfast, have a shower and have a good time. It is also the auxiliary that builds the perfect tenses. In the present simple it has just one irregular point: the third person singular is has, not haves.

Learning objectives

• Use have and has with the right subject.
• Form negatives and questions correctly with do and does.
• Understand why the main verb returns to have after does.
• Use have got and know when it is appropriate.
• Recognise the fixed expressions where have means "eat", "drink" or "experience".

Meaning and usage

The affirmative form

Spelling and pronunciation

Most verbs form the third person by adding -s or -es, but have is irregular: it becomes has, never haves. Contractions are only used when have is an auxiliary, not when it is a main verb of possession. So She's finished is natural, but for possession you say She has a car, not She's a car — that would mean something entirely different.

The negative form

As a main verb, have needs the auxiliary do / does to form the negative. The crucial point: once does takes the third-person -s, the main verb returns to its base form have.

Notice: She doesn't have, never She doesn't has. The -s has already moved onto does, and English marks it only once.

Questions and short answers

Wh- questions work the same way: What do you have in your bag? How many brothers does she have?

Have got

Have got is a common alternative for possession, relationships and features, especially in British English and in speech. It means the same as have, but it behaves differently in negatives and questions: it needs no do.

Two limits worth remembering: have got is not normally used for repeated activities (I have breakfast at seven, not I've got breakfast at seven), and it has no past form — the past of both is simply had.

Signal words and time expressions

Because possession is a state, have often appears with now, at the moment and these days. When have describes routines — meals, showers, lessons — you will see the usual present simple markers: every day, usually, always, on Mondays, twice a week.

Formal and informal usage

• Have got is informal and conversational; in formal or academic writing prefer plain have.
• American English tends to use do you have where British English may use have you got; both are correct.
• The older British form I haven't a car without got still exists but sounds dated.

Common mistakes

A comparison with be

Learning tips

1. Learn the rule "one -s per sentence". If does carries it, have must not.
2. Describe your family in five sentences using have and has, then convert each one into a question.
3. Group the fixed expressions and learn them as chunks: have breakfast, have a shower, have a break, have fun, have a look.

Summary checklist

• Is it has for he, she, it and have for everything else?
• After do / does / doesn't, did I write the base form have?
• If I used have got, did I avoid do in the question and negative?
• Did I use be — not have — for age and for hungry, thirsty or cold?

Shpjegim në gjuhën shqipe

Rregulli i anglishtes, i shpjeguar në shqip

Folja have ka dy forma në kohën e tashme: have për të gjitha vetat dhe has vetëm për he, she, it. Forma has është e parregullt; nuk thuhet kurrë haves.

Si folje e mëvetësishme, have nuk mund të ndërtojë vetë pyetjen dhe mohimin: ajo huazon foljen ndihmëse do ose does. Rregulli thelbësor është se mbaresa -s shënohet vetëm një herë në fjali. Sapo shfaqet does, folja kryesore kthehet në formën bazë: Does she have a car?, jo Does she has.

Anglishtja e përdor have për zotërimin, marrëdhëniet familjare, tiparet fizike, pjesët e një sendi, sëmundjet, vaktet dhe një varg shprehjesh të ngulitura si have breakfast, have a shower, have a good time. Ndërtimi have to shpreh detyrim.

Ekziston edhe forma have got, e cila ka të njëjtin kuptim për zotërimin, por sillet ndryshe: ajo e ndërton pyetjen dhe mohimin pa do, sepse aty have vepron si folje ndihmëse.

Ekuivalenti në gjuhën shqipe

Folja angleze have i përgjigjet foljes shqipe kam. Të dyja shprehin zotërim, marrëdhënie familjare, tipare fizike dhe sëmundje. Dallimi kryesor gramatikor është se anglishtja ka vetëm dy forma (have dhe has), kurse shqipja ka gjashtë.

Ekuivalenti i formave

Kur shqipja përdor «kam» por anglishtja jo

Ky është burimi më i shpeshtë i gabimeve. Shqipja i shpreh këto gjendje me kam + emër, kurse anglishtja me be + mbiemër.

Pyetja dhe mohimi

Këtu dy gjuhët ndryshojnë thellësisht. Shqipja nuk ka folje ndihmëse: pyetja bëhet me pjesëzën a ose me intonacion, kurse mohimi me nuk. Anglishtja detyrimisht huazon do ose does.

Kujdes: pas does dhe doesn't folja kthehet në formën bazë have. Kjo është e ngjashme me shqipen, ku pas nuk folja nuk ndryshon: ai nuk ka.

Have got

Forma have got ka të njëjtin kuptim me have dhe përkthehet gjithashtu me kam. Ajo është më bisedore dhe përdoret sidomos në anglishten britanike: I've got a car = Kam një makinë.

Gabime të zakonshme të folësve të shqipes