Have got and have

When you use it

You use have got and have to say what belongs to you, what your family looks like, what you are carrying, what is wrong with you and what something contains: I have got two brothers, Tom has a car, I have got a headache, the flat has two bedrooms. The two patterns mean the same thing. Have got is the everyday spoken form in British English; have on its own is the normal form in American English and is correct everywhere. You need to understand both, because you will hear both.

How it is formed

Have got uses have or has as a helper. The negative adds not to the helper, and the question moves the helper in front of the subject. Got does not move.

Plain have behaves like any ordinary verb. It needs do or does in the negative and in the question, and the third person form is has.

Short answers follow the pattern of the question. Have you got a pen? Yes, I have. No, I haven't. Do you have a pen? Yes, I do. No, I don't. Got never appears in a short answer.

Have got exists only in the present. For the past you use had with did: I had a bike, I didn't have a bike, Did you have a bike? There is no had got for possession.

There is a second use of have that never takes got: have breakfast, have a shower, have a good time, have a look. Here have means do or experience, not own. These are normal verbs with do in the negative: I don't have breakfast at home.

Examples

• I**'ve got** two brothers. / I have two brothers.
• Anna has got a new bike.
• Tom hasn't got a car, so he takes the bus.
• Have you got a minute? Yes, I have.
• We don't have much time today.
• Does she have any children?
• I**'ve got** a headache this morning.
• The flat has got two bedrooms.

Common mistakes

• ✗ I have not a car. I no have a car.
  ✓ I haven't got a car. / I don't have a car.
  In Ukrainian and Russian the negative of possession has no verb at all: У мене немає машини / У меня нет машины. English needs a helper. Either use the got pattern (haven't got) or the do pattern (don't have), but do not mix them and do not leave the helper out.
• ✗ Have you a pen? Has she a brother?
  ✓ Have you got a pen? / Do you have a pen? Has she got a brother? / Does she have a brother?
  The question with have alone in front of the subject is old-fashioned and sounds strange today. Choose one of the two modern patterns.
• ✗ At me there is a dog. By my sister is a car.
  ✓ I have got a dog. / I have a dog. My sister has a car.
  This is a direct copy of У мене є собака / У меня есть собака, where the owner is in a prepositional phrase and the thing is the subject. In English the owner is the subject and have is the verb.
• ✗ I have got breakfast at seven. We had got a good time.
  ✓ I have breakfast at seven. We had a good time.
  Have got is only for owning and for states such as illness. When have means eating, doing or experiencing something, it is an ordinary verb without got.
• ✗ Yes, I have got. No, she hasn't got.
  ✓ Yes, I have. No, she hasn't.
  Short answers keep the helper and drop everything else, including got.

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