Lesson Transcript

Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. In this lesson, I'm going to talk about how to use the verb "have." I'm going to focus on two different ways that we use this verb. Let's get started.
First, over here, I want to talk about using "have" to show ownership. We use the verb "have" when we want to show that an object or a pet, for example, belongs to someone. Or, we want to express that something is owned by someone. So, we do this with the verb "have." And, in present tense, we need to consider the subject of our sentence. So, for this lesson, I'm going to focus on making statements with this verb.
Here, when our subject is "I," "you," "we," or "they," we add the subject to "have" and a direct object. We'll look at some examples in just a moment. This is the basic pattern for a simple statement of ownership with the verb "have." This is a positive statement in blue. To make a negative statement, we use again the same subjects, the same group, or the same kinds of subjects with "don't," and then "have," and our direct object again. So, "don't" is the reduced form of "do not." You can use both of them. But, in everyday speech, we typically use "don't." So, "I don't have," "you don't have," "we don't have," "they don't have."
When the subject is "he," "she," or "it," however, we need to use "has." So, this is the conjugated form of the verb "have." When the subject is these, we have to use "has." So, "he has," "she has," "it has," and a direct object after the verb. Just as we saw in the first example. Again, we need to make a change when we make a negative statement. In this case, with "he," "she," or "it" subjects, we use "doesn't" before "have." So, please note in the negative here with these subjects, we use "don't," "do not have," with these subjects, we use "doesn't," or "does not have," before our direct object. So, these two example portions refer to using "have" to show ownership in the present. So, these are present tense statements.
Let's take a look at a couple of examples down here. First, "I have a car." "I have a car." My subject is "I." I follow this with the verb "have," and my direct object is "a car," a car. I have a car. So, this is the thing that's being affected by this verb, "I have a car." Second, "She has pets." She has pets. In this sentence, my subject is "she." "Has" is the verb. I've conjugated it from the regular "have" to "has," to match my subject. And, my object is "pets." In this case, a plural, "pets." Pets. She has pets. Finally, a negative example. "He doesn't have free time." "He doesn't have free time." My subject is "he." I want to make a negative, so I've used "doesn't have," instead of just "have." Keep in mind, we don't change this portion. This does not change to "has." Only this portion changes. So, "he doesn't have," and then my direct object is "free time." "He doesn't have free time." So, these are basic examples of using "have" for ownership.
Let's take a look now at the same idea, but in past tense. So, when we make past tense statements for ownership, we don't need to be so concerned. We don't need to worry about the subject. So, here in present tense, we need to be careful about the subject because our verb changes. But, in this case, past tense, we don't need to worry about that. So, to make a past tense ownership statement, we use subject, plus "had," this is the past tense conjugation of the verb "have." So, "have" becomes "had," plus our direct object. To make the negative in the past, we use "didn't have," didn't have. "Didn't have" is the reduced form of "did not have." So, "didn't have."
Let's take a look at some examples that use past tense then. So, here. First, "I had a dog." "I had a dog." You might use this when telling a story, like "when I was a kid." So, here, my subject is "I." I've used "had," the past tense form of "have," and my direct object is "a dog," a dog. So, "I had a dog when I was a kid." Or, the reverse is okay too, "When I was a kid, I had a dog." The next example, "He had a meeting." "He had a meeting." So, again, my subject "he," past tense verb "had," direct object "meeting." He had a meeting. And, finally, a negative example: "She didn't have lunch." "She didn't have lunch." So, the negative past tense form is "didn't," plus "have," and my direct object is "lunch." So, you'll notice here that, especially with these two example sentences, it's not really an object or a pet that we're talking about here, "a meeting" or "lunch." Actually, there are some very common expressions that we have that use the verb "have." For example, "to have a meeting," or "to have meal," as in "to have breakfast," "to have dinner," "to have lunch."
Please note, we do not use the verb "take." We do not use "to take lunch," or "to take breakfast." We may use "to take a break," or "to take lunch," in terms of a break, a break period. But when we're talking about a meal, we do not use the verb "to take." We also have the expressions "to have fun," or "to have a good time." "To have a nice day," as well is a common greeting. Like, "I had a nice day," or "I hope you have a nice day." So, please keep in mind, there are these common other expressions that use "have," but maybe aren't about owning something like having a physical object. So, this is the way that we use "have" and "has" and "had" to show ownership.
Let's compare this now to part two of this lesson. In part two, I want to look at using "have" to make the perfect tense, the perfect tense. So, for this, I'm going to cover the present perfect tense and the past perfect tense. Let's begin with the present perfect tense.
So, just as we did with part one and the present tense, we need to think about the subject when we're using present perfect tense. The same groups apply, "I," "you," "we," and "they" as subjects, plus "have," plus present participle. The present participle form of a verb. This makes the first part of a typical present perfect tense sentence, or present perfect tense statement.
To make the statement negative, we again use our subject, and we use "haven't," plus the present participle form of a verb. "Haven't" is the reduced form of "have not." We'll see some examples in just a moment. Compare this to this one. Again, the same as in part one over here. Our subjects are "he," "she," and "it" in this portion. And, we need to change the verb "have" to "has" here. Then, we follow this with the present participle form of the verb. So, again, "has" for the subject "he," "she," or "it." "He has," "she has," "it has." In the negative, we use "hasn't," hasn't. So, this is "has not" in the reduced form.
A pronunciation point with these, we tend to reduce "have" and "has" to /v/ and /z/ when we're speaking. For example, "I have" becomes "I've." "You have" becomes "you've." "We have" becomes "we've." "They have" becomes "they've." When using these subjects, "he has," "she has," and "it has" become "he's," "she's," "it's." So, please keep this in mind. It can be hard to pick up when you're listening. But over time, when you listen to the grammar of the sentence, you'll notice these patterns. A great hint is listening for this present participle verb form.
Okay. So, let's take a look at some examples that use this pattern. First, "I have been to Mexico." I have been to Mexico. My subject is "I," here. I follow this with "have," and then I use the present participle form of my verb, "I have been," in this case, "to Mexico." So, we use the present perfect tense to talk about general life experiences. I have the life experience of going to Mexico. So, we use present perfect tense to show that. We don't use simple past tense, "I went to Mexico," because we are not talking about a specific point in time. We're using this just to show that we have some life experience, "I've been to Mexico." So, the reduced form that I just used is the most common in conversation. Not, "I have been to Mexico," but "I've been to Mexico."
Let's look at another example. "He hasn't eaten lunch today." He hasn't eaten lunch today. Here's a negative. My subject is "he," I'm using "hasn't," the reduced form of "has not," "eaten," my present participle verb, and "lunch," in this case. "He hasn't eaten lunch today." "He hasn't eaten lunch today." So, in this case, we're talking about an experience today. So, we also use the present perfect tense to refer to actions that started in the past and that continue to the present. So, why did we use it here? We would use this here to mean that this person, this "he" in this situation, may be suffering some kind of negative effect. For example, it's 4 o'clock, and he hasn't eaten lunch today. So, the speaker might be concerned that this person is hungry or maybe tired, needs a break, they're very busy. "He hasn't eaten lunch today." So, today, he has not had the experience of eating lunch. Maybe he needs some time off, or maybe he should take a break. So, there may be some concern about the other person. That's why we might use this kind of grammar for this sentence.
Finally, the last example here, "She has arrived at the station." "She has arrived at the station." My subject is "she," I'm using "has" as my helping verb, and my present participle "arrived" follows. "She has arrived at the station," in this case. So, we could use this to maybe talk about someone's travel plans like, "Oh, she has arrived at the station," and maybe now, she is waiting." So, we use it to talk about those kinds of sequences of events. Like, she has arrived now. She's in that station waiting for us.
Okay. So, let's take a look now at the past form of this. So, just as we talked about in part one, with the past form of the perfect tense, past perfect tense. We don't need to concern ourselves, we don't need to be worried about different subjects here. We all, or rather, all of these will use the same pattern, subject, plus "had," plus present participle. Or, to make the negative, subject, plus "hadn't," which is "had not," plus present participle. And, note for both of these, I've used present participle at the end here. But, yes, you can use been, plus -ing. You can use the continuous form. I'm just not covering it in this lesson because there's not enough space in time for me to talk about all of it. But, we can use this as well, yes.
So, we use past perfect tense when we want to talk about something that maybe started in the past and was continuing but was interrupted. So, we use this a lot for past actions that were interrupted as in the first example, here. "We had been studying for two hours when our teacher arrived." So, here, "we," subject, "had been," so again, my linking verb, my helping verb here is "had." In this case, I'm using this "been studying" pattern, this continuing pattern. "We had been studying for two hours when our teacher arrived." So, this shows an interrupted action. You'll notice this first part, "we had been studying," is in this continuous form. So, that means this period to this period, these two-hour period, was studying. "We had been studying," so in this period in the past. Then, here, "our teacher arrived," "our teacher arrived." So, maybe, the studying stopped or something interrupted our studying. So, the speaker is talking now in the present. But, they're talking about something that happened in the past. "We had been studying for two hours when our teacher arrived." So, this is a common pattern with the past perfect tense.
Let's look at one more example. If you want to show a sequence of events in the past, past perfect tense is very useful for that. For example, "I saw my busy friend yesterday." We might begin our story with this. "I saw my busy friend yesterday. She hadn't slept in 24 hours, so she was exhausted," she hadn't slept. So, here, "she" is my subject, "hadn't" is the negative, the negative "had not" here, plus, present participle verb form, in this case, "slept." "She hadn't slept in 24 hours, so she was exhausted." So, using past tense and past perfect tense helps us show the sequence of events. So, in this case, "I saw my busy friend yesterday," this was most recently in the past. "My friend hadn't slept in 24 hours." So, in the 24 hours before I met my friend, my friend did not sleep. But, I use present -- I'm sorry, we use past perfect tense to describe that period because it was a continuing period.
So, 24 hours prior, until when I met my friend, she had not slept, no sleep in that period. So, we use past perfect tense to describe that. So, I finished this with, "she was exhausted." At this point in time, she was exhausted. So, I'm referring to this specific point in time when I saw my friend, so I'm using simple past tense there. So, this part, her experience the past 24 hours, I use past perfect tense to talk about that. And, I also use past perfect tense to talk about that, because it was before. It's something that happened before this point in time which is nearer to the conversation now. So, we're talking now, if this is the present, this is when I saw my friend, this is my friend's experience, this came before this experience. So, when you want to talk about something further in the past, use past perfect tense, then, simple past tense to do that.
So, we show sequences of events this is a little bit more of an advanced grammar point. But, this is another way that we use "had" and "hadn't." So, I hope that this lesson helps you to understand the various ways that we use have, has, and had, and all of the negative forms as well. If you have any questions or comments, or if you want to practice making some sentences with these words, please feel free to do so in the comment section of this video. Thanks very much for watching this lesson, and I will see you again soon. Bye-bye.

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