have

Have is a highly versatile verb in English. As a main verb, it denotes possession or ownership, as in “I have a car.” As an auxiliary verb, it helps form perfect tenses (have seen, had finished) and participates in semi-modal constructions expressing obligation or necessity (have to). It also contributes to many idiomatic expressions and fixed phrases.

Etymology traces have to Old English habban, related to German haben and Dutch hebben. Its role as an auxiliary expanded during the Middle English period, influenced by its Germanic relatives, and it remains one of the most common and flexible verbs in modern English.

Conjugation and syntax: present tense uses have for I/you/we/they and has for he/she/it; past tense and past participle are had. As an auxiliary, have combines with a past participle to form the present perfect (I have eaten) and the past perfect (I had eaten). In negation, have can appear as I do not have or contractions like I haven't; questions typically use do-support (Do you have…?). In perfect tenses, the auxiliary do is usually not visible if the main verb carries a participle, but it appears in negative and interrogative forms.

Major uses include possession (I have two sisters), experience or state (I have lived here since 2010), and obligation (I have to finish this). The semi-auxiliary sense is common in everyday speech, with phrases like have got (to) indicate possession or necessity, especially in British English. Causative use is possible in constructions like “I had my car repaired.”

Common idioms include have a look, have a seat, have a drink, have fun, have second thoughts, and have a go. Overall, have is a core, multifunction verb central to English grammar and everyday expression.