PE-14: have / have got: Talking About Possession
Two ways to say what you own, and when each one sounds natural — plus the have that means 'do', as in have breakfast and have a shower.
PE-14: have / have got: Talking About Possession
In Uzbek, owning something is easy: Menda velosiped bor. English does not use "there is" for this — it uses a verb. And it gives you two of them: I have a bike and I've got a bike. Both are correct. This lesson shows you when each one sounds natural, and why have is secretly two different verbs.
In this lesson you will learn
- The two forms — have and have got — and their negatives and questions
- Which one to use in speaking, in writing, and in an exam
- The other have: have breakfast, have a shower, have a good time
- Why he's can mean two completely different things
1. The two forms
I have two sisters. = I 've got two sisters.
Mening ikkita opam bor.
Notice that have got is almost always shortened in speech: I've got, you've got, he's got, we've got, they've got. Saying the full "I have got" sounds heavy.
2. Negatives and questions — the two systems
This is where the two forms really separate. Have behaves like an ordinary verb and needs do/does. Have got behaves like a helper and inverts by itself.
have → needs do / does
- Do you have a pen?
- Does she have a car?
- I don't have time.
- Short answer: Yes, I do.
have got → inverts by itself
- Have you got a pen?
- Has she got a car?
- I haven't got time.
- Short answer: Yes, I have.
I don't have any money. = I haven't got any money.
Mening pulim yoʻq.
Two systems, one meaning — but never I don't have got.
3. Which one should you use?
1Speaking, British
have got — I've got a headache.
2Writing & exams
have — safer and more formal.
3American English
have — Do you have a minute?
4Past or future
only have — I had a bike. I had got
4. The other "have" — actions, not possession
English also uses have to mean "do" or "experience", in dozens of everyday phrases. In this meaning you can never add got, and it can take -ing (remember PE-13).
I have breakfast at seven, then I have a shower. Right now Sherbek is having a English lesson.
Men soat yettida nonushta qilaman, keyin dush qabul qilaman. Hozir Sherbek ingliz tili darsida.
Common ones worth learning as whole phrases: have breakfast / lunch / dinner, have a shower, have a rest, have a look, have a good time, have a party, have a problem, have fun.
5. The "he's" trap
The short form 's hides two different words. Look at what comes after it:
's = is
He's a doctor. (He is)
She's reading. (She is)
's = has
He's got a car. (He has)
She's got blue eyes. (She has)
The rule is simple: if the word after 's is got, then 's = has.
6. Common mistakes
I have got 15 years.
I am 15 (years old). (age uses "be" — see PE-6)
Do you have got a brother?
Have you got a brother? / Do you have a brother?
She don't have a phone.
She doesn't have a phone. / She hasn't got a phone.
I've got a shower every morning.
I have a shower every morning.
Last year I had got a bicycle.
Last year I had a bicycle.
Practice
1 Say it both ways: Afsona owns a laptop.
Show answer
Afsona has a laptop. = Afsona has got (Afsona's got) a laptop.
She → has, not have.
2 Make two questions from: You have a dictionary.
Show answer
Do you have a dictionary? / Have you got a dictionary?
Two systems, never mixed. Do you have got… ✗
3 Does 's mean is or has? (a) Jasur's got two dogs. (b) Jasur's at home.
Show answer
(a) has (because got follows), (b) is.
4 Correct it: I've got lunch at school every day.
Show answer
I have lunch at school every day.
Here have means "eat", not "own", so got is impossible.
5 Which is wrong, and why? (a) When I was small, I had a red bike. (b) When I was small, I had got a red bike.
Show answer
(b) is wrong. Have got exists only in the present. In the past, use plain had.
Key words — Kalit soʻzlar
- Possessionegalik
- To ownega boʻlmoq
- Have gotbor (soʻzlashuvda)
- Short formqisqa shakl
- Formalrasmiy
- Informalnorasmiy
- Have a showerdush qabul qilmoq
- Have a restdam olmoq
- Have a lookkoʻrib chiqmoq
- Have a good timeyaxshi vaqt oʻtkazmoq
🎯 Remember this
- I have = I've got. Same meaning; got is more spoken/British.
- have → questions with do/does. have got → inverts by itself.
- have got is present only — the past is always had.
- Action have (have breakfast, have a shower) never takes got.
- If 's is followed by got, it means has.