The verb have got

Verb tenses

1. The verb have got: How is it used?

The verb have got is used to indicate:

What we own or possess:

I have got a dog.

The suffering of an illness

I have got the flu.

Our family and relationships

I have got a brother.

2. Structure of the verb have got

• Affirmative form

  In affirmative sentences the verb is placed after the subject and then a complement. In this case, we can use both have and have got.

  Subject	to Have / Have got	Examples
  I	have have got 've got	I have (got) the tickets.
  You		You have (got) the tickets.
  He	has has got 's got	He has (got) the tickets.
  She		She has (got) the tickets.
  It		It has (got) the tickets.
  We	have have got 've got	We have (got) the tickets.
  You		You have (got) the tickets.
  They		They have (got) the tickets.

  In British English it is more common to use have got.
  As we can see, there is no contracted form for the have form.
• Negative form

  In negative sentences, not is placed between have and got.

  Subject	Have not got	Examples
  I	have not got haven't got	I haven't got the tickets.
  You		You haven't got the tickets.
  He	has not got hasn't got	He hasn't got the tickets.
  She		She hasn't got the tickets.
  It		It hasn't got the tickets.
  We	have not got haven't got	We haven't got the tickets.
  You		You haven't got the tickets.
  They		They haven't got the tickets.

  The contracted forms haven't got and hasn't got are more commonly used. The negative form of have without the got would be don't have or doesn't have.
• Interrogative form

  In interrogative sentences we put have or has first, followed by the subject, then the got and finally the complements.

  To have	Subject	Got	Examples
  Have	I	got...?	Have I got the tickets?
  	you		Have you got the tickets?
  Has	he	got...?	Has he got the tickets?
  	she		Has she got the tickets?
  	it		Has it got the tickets?
  Have	we	got...?	Have we got the tickets?
  	you		Have you got the tickets?
  	they		Have they got the tickets?

  There is no contracted form for interrogative sentences. The interrogative form of the verb have alone would be: Do or Does, then the subject, then have and finally the complements.

  In short answers, we put yes or no, followed by the subject (a pronoun) and have or has. We don't put the got.
  In the case of have alone, the answer will follow the same pattern but, instead of have, we'll put do or does.

  Adverb	Subject	To have
  Yes,	I	have
  	you
  	he	has
  	she
  	it
  	we	have
  	you
  	they

  

  Have you got the money? Yes, I have.

  Adverb	Subject	To have
  No,	I	haven't
  	you
  	he	hasn't
  	she
  	it
  	we	haven't
  	you
  	they

  

  Has she got a pencil? No, she hasn't

4. Aspects to be taken into account

• The verb have can go with certain words to form a collocation, so is meaning will vary.
  
  

  Have a shower.

  

  Have breakfast.
  

  Have a good time.

  

  Have a rest.

Remember!