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Have and have got
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Magrit from Germany
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Subrata from Brazil
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'Is this correct: How many subsidiaries does your company have got?' (Magrit)'I cannot understand the use of have had and had had.' (Subrata)
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Roger Woodham
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'have' / 'have got'
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?
- How many subsidiaries does your company have?- It has two.
- How many sisters do you have?- 滨鈥檝别 got three (sisters).- Do you all have your own bedrooms?- Sue鈥檚 got her own bedroom, but neither Debbie nor I have. We have to share.
- Have you got a new car, Paul?- Yes I have. I bought it last week.- Has it got air conditioning?- No it hasn鈥檛. But it鈥檚 got a CD player.- Do you have very many CDs?- 滨鈥檝别 got hundreds.
- Have you got a sore throat as well as a runny nose?- No, I haven鈥檛.- But you鈥檝e got a high temperature, haven鈥檛 you?- Yes, I have.
- Does this music school have enough pianos?- No, it doesn鈥檛.- But you have enough opportunities to practise, don鈥檛 you?- No, we don鈥檛.
Note that we normally use the have got form of have only in the present tense. For future reference different forms of have used. Compare the following:
- Have you got tickets for the match on Saturday?- No, I haven鈥檛. Not yet.- Will you have them by tomorrow?- I hope so.
- Have you got any time to help me with my maths homework?- Not now I haven鈥檛. Sorry.- Are you going to have any time at the weekend, do you think?- Yes, I鈥檒l probably have some time then.
Similarly, for past tenses we use different forms of have, not have got. Compare the following:
- Have you still got a bad headache? - Yes, I have.- How long have you had it?- 滨鈥檝别 had it on and off since yesterday.- Did you have it at the concert last night?- Yes, I did. I couldn鈥檛 concentrate on the music properly.
Have had is the present perfect form of have, Subrata, describing actions or states which started in the past and continue up to the present. Had had is the past perfect form of have, which we use to talk about longer actions or situations which continued up to a past moment that we are describing. Compare the following:
- 滨鈥檝别 had stomach ache ever since I ate those spam sandwiches.- 滨鈥檝别 got some pills which are good for digestion. Why don鈥檛 you take those?
I started out on the five-mile swim after 滨鈥檇 had a good rest.
If I hadn鈥檛 had a good rest, I would never have completed it.
But because I had had a good rest before I started, I completed it in less than two hours.
If I hadn鈥檛 had a good rest beforehand, 滨鈥檇 never have completed the five-mile swim.
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