Recommended level: Pre-intermediate (A2)
Quick Reference
"Have" and "have got" can be used interchangeably for possession, ownership, relationships, illnesses, appointments, and many other situations.
"Have got" is considered more informal than "have," and it is more commonly used in countries which favour British English.
"Have" and "have got" have different negative and question structures. (Example: "I don't have one" vs. "I haven't got one," and "Do you have one?" vs. "Have you got one?")
"Have" can be used in all tenses.
"Have" can be used to discuss things we do or experience, such as "I have breakfast at 8 o'clock" and "Let's have a discussion." "Have got" cannot be used in these ways. It is only for possession and the scenarios mentioned above.
"Have got" can only be used in the present simple. The usage of the past perfect in a sentence such as "I had got a lot of money for my birthday" is NOT using "have got" in the same way. Neither is "I will have got a raise by then" in the future. In both cases, "have" is an auxiliary verb and "get" is being used idiomatically to mean "acquire" or "receive."
For the past, just use "had."
Should you say "I have a cold" or "I have got a cold"? Are both possible? And if so, is one more common in British or American English? These are some of the questions this lesson aims to answer. So, if you have (or have got) a few minutes and some patience, the similarities and differences between have and have got will become clear quite soon.
Let's start with how they are similar.
The similarities between "have" and "have got"
In brief, have and have got can be used interchangeably when you want to talk about possession and ownership. Basically, the things and people you have in your life. Look at these four examples:
"I have a car."
OR
"I have got a car."
"She has two dogs."
OR
"She has got two dogs."
"I have a bump on my head."
OR
"I've got a bump on my head."
"We have a lot of time."
OR
"We have got a lot of time."
This idea of possession--things we have--can be extended to many other things in our lives, including relationships, illnesses, and appointments. Note these examples:
"He has got two brothers and two sisters."
OR
"He has two brothers and two sisters."
"I think I have a cold."
OR
"I think I've got a cold."
"She has a doctor's appointment today."
OR
"She's got a doctor's appointment today."
You will notice that the have part of have got can be contracted. This is common in casual speech and casual writing. For instance, you can say, "I have got two dollars" or "I've got two dollars." For a third person contraction, you can say "She's got two dollars," which is the contracted form of "She has got two dollars." Of course, you can just as equally say "I have two dollars" and "She has two dollars."
Are you with me so far? Good. Now, let's look at the negative and question structures for have and have got.
Negative and question structures for have and have got
While have is an irregular verb, it follows the same negative and question structures as other regular and irregular verbs. Let's take a look at some examples with a variety of tenses. We'll start with three questions and then three negatives.
Questions with have
Present simple: Do you have a dollar that I could borrow?
Past simple: Didn't she have a doctor's appointment this morning?
Future simple: When will you have your car back from the mechanic?
Negatives with have
Present simple: I don't have any money.
Present perfect: He hasn't had a library card since he was in high school.
Past simple: The school didn't have enough computers.
As you can see, have follows the exact same interrogative and negative structures as verbs such as make, see, play, go, turn, and almost every other verb in the English language. This means that if someone asks you "Do you have car?" you can respond with the short answers, "Yes, I do" or "No, I don't." In this case, however, it is important to mention that if you are in England or another country which favours British English grammar, you can also answer "Do you have a car?" with "Yes, I have" or "No, I haven't." This is not the case across the Atlantic Ocean in Canada and the United States, where "Yes, I do" and "No, I don't" are the expected short responses.
Now, let's look at some examples with have got. We'll start with three questions and follow it with three negatives. Pay attention. What do you notice about these examples?
Questions with have got (have + subject + got; Who/What + has got)
Present: Have you got any extra snacks?
Present: Who has got a cold?
Present: Have you got a headache?
Negatives with have got (have not got, has not got, haven't got, hasn't got)
Present: The car hasn't got any gas.
Present: We have not got any milk left.
Present: They haven't got enough people to work on this project.
So, what do all of these examples have in common besides the fact that they all use have got? That's right. They're all in the present tense. This brings us to one of the key differences between have and have got.
The difference between have and have got pt.1
The key difference between have and have got is that have can be used in all tenses, while have got can only be used in the present. This means that if you want to talk about past possession, you can only use the past conjugation of have, which is had. To illustrate this, your only option for using "I have a problem" or "I have got a problem" in the past is "I had a problem." While you can say "I had had a problem," this is not have got in the past--it is the past perfect usage of have.
If you don't want to think about tenses like the past perfect yet, that's okay. For now, just know that have is much more flexible than have got, and that you must use had to talk about past possession. Now, let's take a look at how flexible have actually is.
The difference between have and have got pt.2
Until now, we have learned that have and have got can be used interchangeably for possession, ownership, relationships, illnesses, and appointments, and that the question and negative structures for have and have got are different, and that have got can only be used in the present, while have can be used in all tenses.
Now, we will learn how the flexibility of have extends to more than just tenses. Indeed, we can use it with a variety of idiomatic phrases which are not possible with have got. To be more specific, we can use have to talk about things we do or experience. Here are ten examples of this:
We need to have a talk.
We had a long discussion about our relationship.
I hope you have a good time at the festival.
He had an accident.
We're going to have dinner soon.
His band had a concert last night.
Let's have a race!
Are you having fun?
They had a fight.
She's having a hard time these days.
That's a lot, isn't it? I hope you can now see how much more you can do with the verb have than you can with have got. Finally, before we finish, allow me to share a few more pieces of information about these words.
Three more things...
You might be wondering if have got is more common in British or American English. Most sources indicate that have got is more commonly used in British English. Based on my own experience as an English speaker in Canada, I can tell you that I predominantly use have, but I use have got from time to time as well. Here are some things that I have definitely said in my lifetime:
"Have you got a minute?"
"Has anyone got the time?"
"How much time have we got left?"
"How many have you got?"
"I haven't got any."
"I've got a few."
When I use have got, it's usually in informal situations. This is because have got is more informal than have. The word have sounds and is considered much more neutral by the vast majority of L1 English speakers.
Finally, have got is sometimes shortened to got in very casual situations where people don't care about using correct grammar. For instance, at a pub or nightclub, you are just as likely to hear someone say "I got a headache" as you are to hear "I've got a headache" or "I have a headache." Try to stick to have and have got, but don't feel too bad if you simply use got in casual situations. There is a good chance that other people are making the same mistake and not really caring about it. I will let you decide what you are comfortable with in this case.
Well, that's everything. What have we learned in this lesson? We have learned that have and have got can be used interchangeably to discuss present possession, ownership, relationships, illnesses, and appointments. We have learned that the question and negative structures for have and have got are different. We have also learned that have is much more flexible since it can be used in all English tenses, and it can be used to talk about things we do and experience. Finally, we have learned that have got is more informal and that it is more common in areas which favour British English.
To help you practice the knowledge you have acquired in this lesson, answer these questions:
What did you have for breakfast today?
For breakfast today, I had...
Have you got any money in your pockets?
Yes, I have.
No, I haven't.
How many brothers and sisters have you got?
I have got...
How many apps do you have on your phone?
I have...
Did you have a good time reviewing this lesson?
Yes, I did.
No, I didn't.
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