The verb "to have"

The Verb to have in the Present Simple Tense.

In English, there are two main uses of the verb “to have”, first as the main verb, this is when it has a meaning by itself and it’s the acting verb of the sentence, and second as an auxiliary verb. When used as an auxiliary, the “to have” verb doesn’t have a specific meaning in English, but it’s still very important, since it helps form more complex tenses. Also, there’s a third use for this verb, and it’s when “to have” is a modal verb, in which case it’s used to express necessity or obligation.

When used as a main verb, the meaning of the verb “to have” indicates possession and ownership, like in the sentence “I have a bike”, and also it can mean to perform an action, for example, “Lisa has breakfast every morning”, where the “to have” verb is used to talk about the action of eating breakfast.

Also, the verb “to have” can be used to make questions in English, both for Wh-questions and for yes or no questions.

Base form: have

The base form is the main one, and it’s the one used to find the verb “to have” in the dictionary. Its main use is to make imperative sentences, and also to make the infinitive by adding “to” in front of it.

Have a piece of cake! (imperative)

She plans to have a party next week. (infinitive)

Present

The present form of “to have” is mainly used to form the simple present of a sentence. Since this verb is irregular, there are two ways of writing it in the present: “have” or “has”, and deciding to use one or the other depends on the subject of the sentence.

Affirmative of the verb “to have”:

I have

you have

he/she/it has

we/they/you have

Negative of the verb “to have”:

The negative of this verb is formed by using the auxiliary verb “to do”, this only applies for when the “to have” is used as the main verb in the sentence.

I don’t have

you don’t have

he/she/it doesn’t have

we/they/you don’t have

Some examples of this verb are:

She has a brown skateboard.
Elliot and Lisa have a toy.
I have a lot of homework to do.

I don’t have apples in my bag.
I have a trip next month.
Billy has a best friend.

Questions in English with the “to have” verb

When using the verb “to have” as the main verb, the questions should be made using the auxiliary verb “to do”, both for Wh- questions and for yes or no questions.

What does she have to do today?
Where do you have your toys?
Do you have any oranges left in the kitchen?
Where did she have her graduation party?