Grammar Basics: Unit 9 – “I have” and “I’ve got”

“have” / “have got” is used to indicate possession. In the case of third person singular, “has” / “has got” is used instead. So, we have the following table:

I have, I have got ( = I’ve got)
you have, you have got ( = you’ve got)
we have, we have got ( = we’ve got)
they have, they have got ( = they’ve got)

he has, he has got ( = he’s got)
she has, she has got ( = she’s got)
it has, it has got ( = it’s got)

Examples:

I have a pen. / I have got a pen. = I’ve got a pen.
You have a dog. / You have got a dog. = You’ve got a dog.
We have a new car. / We have got a new car. = We’ve got a new car.
They have problems. / They have got problems. = They’ve got problems.

The negation is formed this way:

have ==> do not have ( = don’t have)
have got ==> have not got ( = haven’t got)

has ==> does not have ( = doesn’t have)
has got ==> has not got ( = hasn’t got)

Examples:

I don’t have any money.
We don’t have time.
They don’t have a clue. ( = They don’t understand at all.)
She doesn’t have blue eyes.
He doesn’t have pets.

For “have / has,” questions are formed with “Do/Does” and switching the order of subject and verb:

I have … ==> Do I have …?
you have … ==> Do you have…?
we have … ==> Do we have …?
they have … ==> Do they have …?

Note that in the third person singular, “has” changes to “have” for the question:
he has … ==> Does he have …?
she has … ==> Does she have …?
it has … ==> Does it have …?

Examples:

Do you have a minute? ( = Do you have any time?)
Does he have a backpack?
Do they have a red car?
Does it have a scratch on the driver’s door?

For “have got / has got,” questions are formed by switching the order of “have / has” and subject:

I have got … ==> Have I got …?
you have got … ==> Have you got …?
we have got … ==> Have we got …?
they have got … ==> Have they got …?

Here, third person singular keeps “has” for questions:

he has got … ==> Has he got …?
she has got … ==> Has she got …?
it has got … ==> Has she got …?

Examples:

Have you got a knife I could borrow?
Have they got any milk?
Has she got an idea?

These types of questions are “yes or no” questions, and can be answered as seen in the following table. You can use the question word as a clue or prompt for the answer word:

Do I have …? ==> Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.
Do you have…? ==> Yes, you do. / No, you don’t.
Do we have …? ==> Yes, we do. / No, we don’t.
Do they have …? ==> Yes, they do. / No, they don’t.

Does he have …? ==> Yes, he does. / No, he doesn’t.
Does she have …? ==> Yes, she does. / No, she doesn’t.
Does it have …? ==> Yes, it does. / No, it doesn’t.

Have I got …? ==> Yes, I have. / No, I haven’t.
Have you got …? ==> Yes, you have. / No, you haven’t.
Have we got …? ==> Yes, we have. / No, we haven’t.
Have they got …? ==> Yes, they have. / No, they haven’t.

Has he got …? ==> Yes, he has. / No, he hasn’t.
Has she got …? ==> Yes, she has. / No, she hasn’t.
Has it got …? ==> Yes, it has. / No, it hasn’t.

Exercises: Use the following words as prompts to write a sentence using “have / have got,” using the correct forms of “have/has”. Also write the corresponding question.

Example:

you / apple ==>
You have an apple. / You’ve got an apple.
Do you have an apple? / Have you got an apple?

1. I / a key

2. we / a ball

3. Sam / a radio

4. Lisa / tickets

5. it / a pool

6. they / the food

7. you / the pictures

8. John / a camera

9. the students / their homework

10. the porter / our suitcases

11. the baby / his bottle

12. Father / slippers

13. Mother / the recipe

14. Jackson / his gym bag

15. you / your lesson book

16. it / cable TV

17. he / a mechanical pencil

18. Northwestern University / a good football coach

19. the train / comfortable seats

20. the building / an elevator