What does “have” mean?
- 1
verbto own, hold or possess something
They have a big house near the lake.
- 2
auxiliary verbused with a past participle to form perfect tenses
I have already eaten lunch.
- 3
modal verbused in “have to” to show that something is necessary
We have to leave at seven.
Have at a glance
- Part of speech
- verb, auxiliary verb & modal verb
- CEFR level
- A1 (beginner)
- Pronunciation
- /hæv/ · HAV
- Forms
- has, had, having
How to use “have” correctly
“Have” is used for many everyday actions: “have lunch”, “have a shower”, “have a good time”. In those meanings it can be continuous: “I’m having lunch.”
Common phrases with “have”
- have to
- have breakfast
- have fun
- have a look
Idioms with “have”
- Have your head in the clouds: To be dreamy and not pay attention to practical things.
- Have your cake and eat it: To want two good things that cannot both be had at the same time.
- Have a sweet tooth: To love eating sweet food like cake, chocolate and sweets.
- Have bigger fish to fry: To have more important things to deal with.
“have” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- be verbA1used to describe or identify a person or thing
- do verbA1to perform an action or activity
- let verbA1to allow someone to do something
- need verbA1to require something because it is important or necessary
- require verbB1to need something
- bestow verbC2to give an honor, gift or title to someone, formally