[Grammar] have and have got

Status
Not open for further replies.

moqaddas

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Urdu
Home Country
Pakistan
Current Location
Pakistan
What's difference between ''have'' and ''have got''?
such as :
''I have a pen.''OR ''I have got a pen''
''I have an idea''OR ''I have got an idea''
 
The former is more American, the latter more British.
 
What's difference between ''have'' and ''have got''?
such as :
''I have a pen.''OR ''I have got a pen''
''I have an idea''OR ''I have got an idea''

When we are talking about possession, relationships, illnesses and characteristics of people or things we can use either have or have got. The have got forms are more common in an informal style.

Have got has the same meaning as have and both are used as present tenses. Note that have got is NOT the present perfect of get.

To make questions and negative sentences with have we normally use the auxiliary verb do. To make questions and negative sentences with have got we use the auxiliary verb have. So your question, Magrit, with have got must be formed as follows:

How many subsidiaries has your company got?

Study these further examples and note that in informal speech we often switch from one form to the other:

- How many subsidiaries does your company have?
- It has two.

- How many sisters do you have?
- I’ve got three (sisters).
- Do you all have your own bedrooms?
- Sue’s got her own bedroom, but neither Debbie nor I have. We have to share.

(Note in this last example that have to is used as an alternative to must because the need to share is imposed on the sisters.)

- Have you got a new car, Paul?
- Yes I have. I bought it last week.
- Has it got air conditioning?
- No it hasn’t. But it’s got a CD player.
- Do you have very many CDs?
- I’ve got hundreds.

Note the way in which we form short answers and question tags with have got and have:

- Have you got a sore throat as well as a runny nose?
- No, I haven’t.
- But you’ve got a high temperature, haven’t you?
- Yes, I have.

- Does this music school have enough pianos?
- No, it doesn’t.
- But you have enough opportunities to practise, don’t you?
- No, we don’t.
hope this helps. :up:
 
It would be helpful if you could use quotation markes or italics:
When we are talking about possession, relationships, illnesses and characteristics of people or things we can use either "have" or "have got". The "have got" forms are more common in an informal style.

"Have got" has the same meaning as "have", and both are used as present tenses. Note that "have got" is NOT the present perfect of "get".

Well, it can be:

"I've got a question for you." "have got" = have".
"I've got bored with this situation." "have got = present perfect of "get".

To make questions and negative sentences with "have" we normally use the auxiliary verb "do". To make questions and negative sentences with "have got" we use the auxiliary verb "have". So your question, Magrit, with "have got" must be formed as follows:

"How many subsidiaries has your company got?"

[...]
 
It would be helpful if you could use quotation markes or italics:
Thanks, sir.
Note that "have got" is NOT the present perfect of "get" in this sense. I meant that but forgot to write.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top