Which should we use: “have” or “have got”?
Learners often want to know if have and have got are the same. They want to know which of the two they should use and if they are interchangeable. ”Can we use either one of them whenever we want?” they ask.
The answer is that have and have got are the same in meaning when we want to express possession of something. And, yes, they are very often interchangeable.
There are, however, some important differences in grammar and usage between have and have got.
This is what you should remember if you decide to use have got:
1. Have got is for spoken English
- Use have got in spoken English.
- Use have in your formal written English (business correspondence, etc.).
If you are writing an informal message to your friends—on Facebook, for example—have got is fine.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with using have instead of have got in spoken English.
2. Use contractions with have got
If you want to use have got when you speak, remember that you must use contractions (short forms) where possible. Don’t use the full forms. You should say:
- I’ve got
- I haven’t got
- he’s got
- he hasn’t got, etc.
Some more examples of contractions with have got are:
we’ve got; we haven’t got; everyone’s got; it’s got; it hasn’t got; they’ve got, etc.
3. Different question and negative forms
With have got we don’t use helping verbs such as do and don’t to form questions and negatives.
For questions, we simply invert the subject and have or has, as follows:
positive: you’ve got
question: have you got?
positive: he’s got
question: has he got?
For negatives, we put not (n’t) after have or has, as follows:
positive: you’ve got
negative: you haven’t got
positive: she’s got
negative: she hasn’t got.
4. Have got only in the present
Have got only exists in the present simple tense. We don’t use it in the continuous, past or future tenses.
present simple tense: He’s got a problem.
past simple tense: He had a problem.
future simple: He’ll have a problem.
5. When we cannot use have got
When have is a substitute word for another verb, we cannot interchange it with have got. For example, instead of take a shower we sometimes say have a shower, or instead of eat lunch we say have lunch. In these cases, we cannot use have got:
- I have lunch at 12 o’clock.
I’ve got lunch
- I have a shower every day.
I’ve got a shower
If we say ”I’ve got a shower”, we are saying that we own a shower or that there is a shower in the house.
Raj - January 16, 2012, 12:49 pm
Hi Stuart, Really awesome. I became the regular visitor and it is helping me a lot. Thanks so much for your all the topics that you have covered. It would be very good if we could also get the audio/video version for all the topics that you would cover here. Hope, you will consider this suggestion.
Regards,
Raj
Stuart Cook - January 16, 2012, 1:01 pm
Thanks for visiting, Raj. An audio version is definitely something to consider.
brice - February 4, 2013, 7:51 am
merci, it helped a lot
juliana - March 5, 2013, 3:37 pm
Hello Stuart.
My name is Juliana and I work at Padre Anchieta Foundation in São Paulo, Brazil. We are interested to use one of your english material. Please, answer me as soon as possible than we can talk better.
Best regards.
Juliana Mingoti Silva
maisoon - March 23, 2013, 7:59 pm
thank you so much
ali - September 8, 2013, 5:34 am
Thank you so much
Saeed - October 4, 2013, 9:20 am
Excuse me,
Can we say that have/has got is used in British English? Thanks a lot.
Stuart Cook - October 4, 2013, 2:29 pm
Saeed,
It seems that have got and has got are more common in British English than in American English. That said, they are not used only in British English. Hopefully some AmE speakers will leave a comment here and give us some examples of when they prefer I have to I’ve got.
Saeed - October 4, 2013, 9:25 am
Dear Stuart,
Is there any difference between get past and get through? Thanks.
bota - March 15, 2014, 4:40 pm
thanks a lot
safaa - March 17, 2014, 2:11 am
thanks, it’s a great note
ayseguldemirbas - June 9, 2014, 12:23 pm
I understand now. Thank you so much sir.
jinan - December 3, 2014, 7:31 am
thank you sir so much
G. Donald Hamilton - May 13, 2015, 7:43 pm
Should this not be about have and have gotten – tense is thus correct. got is from the presence-tense where have and gotten are both about past-tense!!!
there would not be a have got as the tenses are wrong
I have got or I have gotten — figure it out!
Stuart Cook - May 15, 2015, 8:50 pm
The point of the post is to differentiate between ‘have’ and ‘have got’: both present tense, both referring to possession.
‘Have gotten’ (AmE – and not used in the UK, by the way) is present perfect, and refers to having received something. I think it needs a post of its own 🙂
Elena - November 25, 2015, 12:40 am
Thank you so much, I am learning English and this was difficult for me to understand. Thank you for your help!
Anonymous - May 8, 2016, 1:43 am
Can we say ” have you got your shower?”
mariana - May 18, 2016, 6:38 pm
Dear, can we say “I’ve cousins”?
Thanks a lot
Ahmed - July 18, 2016, 11:34 pm
Thanks Stuart! You have made it very easy 🙂
malika - June 27, 2017, 2:51 pm
Hi Stuart! After I read your article about “Have and Have got”, I did a research about it. I added more facts about it, here are the facts:
A. “Have got” is not generally used with : infinitive (to-infinitive),modal verbs,participle, and gerund
For examples : I want to have a new car, I have had a new house, I may/can/might/could/etc. have another picture in my photo album, I am having a new mobile phone.
So, you could not use “have got”,like those :
E.g. I want to have got a new car, I have had got a new house, I might/could/may/can/etc. have got another picture in his photo album, I am having got a new mobile phone.
B. “Have” is generally used with infinitive (to-infinitive), modal verbs, participle, and gerunds.
So, are those facts correct in standard BrE (Standard British English)? I wait for your comment about this article, thanks in advance!
P.s. If they are correct, would you mind adding them by editting your article and add them to your article, thank you! It’s very useful.
Stuart Cook - June 29, 2017, 4:23 pm
Hi, Mailika
Yes, I think that rule is a good addition to the article. Thanks.
Muneer ahmed - February 19, 2018, 10:24 am
Hi stuart its a very good website for me and for all my dr friends i have got so knowledge by your website thanx..
Sulaymonshoh - September 17, 2020, 7:15 pm
Hi to all.
Stuart, should we say “got” in negative and interrogative forms?
Stuart Cook - September 20, 2020, 8:37 am
Hi Sulaymon
Yes, it’s used in negatives and questions. Examples: you can say I haven’t got time and Have you got time?
Brook - May 18, 2021, 6:33 am
I was recently given a small booklet on learning a foreign language, The title of it is, “I Have Got Another Language”
This strikes me as being very awckward if not incorrect. Beings it’s an actual tutorial I would think it would be correct to say, “I Have Another Language”.
What is your input on this one?
Les Tivers - June 13, 2022, 6:55 am
If you want to speak that way, we’ll, there’s really no effective grammar police. I’d never say “I’ve got.” “Have” must combine with “gotten.” K.I.S.S. “Have” is correct and simple. The idea that it’s ok to speak wrong but not to write wrong is wrong, right? And “You got this!”? Awful! Furthermore, healthful food keeps me healthy. Nobody can say such a sentence is incorrect.
Les Tivers - June 13, 2022, 3:31 pm
Les here. I wrote “well.” Please correct “we’ll.”
Roger Lambourne - February 2, 2024, 4:25 pm
It is indeed a great pity that the old English Grammar School was destroyed by the government of the time.
The use of the expression…”have got” is poor English Grammar and indeed punishments were often delivered to those who did use that awful expression, particularly within writings.
An example of its correct use would be simply, “I have an Ice cream” Please let us get rid of the awful got bit!!!! Bring back the Grammar school……it allowed those from a humble background to attend an excellent education as those funded by attend todays private schools…..food for thought.