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You are here: Home / Learning / Have as an ordinary verb and an auxiliary verb

Have as an ordinary verb and an auxiliary verb

March 21, 2016 - pdf

Have can be used as a main verb. In this case it indicates ideas such as possession.

  • I have a Mercedes car.
  • She has a good job.
  • He has two daughters.
  • They have an apartment in the city.
  • She has several friends.

Have can also be used as an auxiliary verb. As an auxiliary, have helps other verbs to form the present and past perfect tense forms.

Have has three forms. The forms have and has are used in the present tense. The form had is used in the past tense.

  • I have seen this.
  • She has gone to the market.
  • They have left.
  • I have forgotten your name.
  • I had sent the parcel yesterday.
  • She said that she had taken the money.

Have can be followed by a to-infinitive. This structure expresses ideas such as compulsion and obligation.

  • I have to be there by 8 o’clock.
  • He had to pay the money back.
  • You have to face the consequences of your action.

Have + had

Sometimes the auxiliary verb have combines with the past participle form of the finite verb have.
Examples are given below.

  • I have had my breakfast. (= I have eaten my breakfast.)
  • She has had a wash. (= She has taken a wash.)
  • We have had enough of this. (= We have experienced enough of this.)
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