10 English Expressions with HAVE - phrasal verbs, idioms and slang sayings

(playful music)

- Hello everyone,

and welcome back to English With Lucy.

Today I have got a video for you,

as you can tell by the title

of 10 expressions that use the verb,

the verb,

the verb verb,

expressions using the verb to have.

I know that to have is a verb,

well, it's an auxiliary verb.

It's a verb that can be really,

really confusing for you guys

because it has so many different meanings,

and it's used so frequently.

It's kind of difficult in the moment when you hear it

to work out exactly what it means,

but I have 10 phrases,

10 expressions.

They're idiomatic.

They're ones that you would use in more informal situations.

You'd hear them a lot in the United Kingdom.

I think most of them would be used in the US

and in other English-speaking countries as well.

So they're pretty universal,

but they're seriously, seriously useful.

So let's get started with the lesson.

Quickly, before we get started,

nah kidding, not today.

(laughs)

Let's get started with the lesson.

Number one, my first expression using have

is to have a laugh.

To have a laugh.

Now to have a laugh means to kid around,

or to be joking,

or even to have a joke can be said as well.

So if I say to you,

are you having a laugh?

I'm essentially saying, are you joking?

Or sorry, I was just having a laugh.

Sorry, I was just joking.

I wasn't being serious.

Number two, is to have somebody on.

To have somebody on.

So it's a separable,

and this one is always separable, phrasal verb.

In this context,

in this context,

it must always be separated.

It is a separable one for this meaning.

It sort of means to persuade somebody

that something is true,

when in reality, it isn't.

So if I don't believe something

that somebody is saying to me,

I'll say,

are you having me on?

Are you trying to persuade me that something's true,

when it actually isn't in reality?

(laughs)

See, it's much, much easier just to say,

are you having me on rather than

are you trying to persuade me something's true,

when it actually isn't reality?

(laughs)

Do you know I've only had one coffee today

and it's like 5:00pm?

Also, for those of you who don't know,

I spend a lot of my time on a farm,

and I'm filming in a barn right now,

and I think something's going on

with some sort of animal poo outside,

and there are flies everywhere!

(laughs)

So if you see any,

it's not me, it's the farm.

Now, the next one,

we're still talking about laughing and joking.

This one is a lovely one.

This one is to have the last laugh,

and this is such a satisfying feeling

to have the last laugh.

To have the last laugh

means to finally be more successful

than somebody else who was unpleasant to you.

So it means to finally be more successful

than somebody else who was unpleasant to you.

I'll give you an example of this.

Anna, I've got English like a native on the brain.

Anna was bullied for being a nerd at school,

but she had the last laugh

when she got the highest grades in the year.

Obviously, these other people were nasty to Anna.

This isn't true by the way, I've made it up.

The other people were nasty to Anna,

but she had the last laugh,

because she got the highest grades in the school.

She was more successful

than those other people who were unpleasant to her.

Totally fake.

I'm sure she was very successful at school.

She's a very intelligent woman,

but I've just,

I've made it up.

Number four, to have a sweet tooth.

Now I'd really like to know if this one

translates into your language at all,

because I can't remember if it is in Spanish.

I don't know if it translates.

Let me know,

obviously which language you speak,

and if it's the same in your language,

or if there's a slight variation,

but in English,

to have a sweet tooth means to be a big,

big fan of sweet foods.

So the person with the biggest sweet tooth

that I know is my grandma, my mom's mom.

She loves

sweet foods

and anything sugary.

You can see it in her face when she sees them.

She's really, really excited about it.

So yes, my lovely grandma has a sweet tooth.

But yeah, comment down below.

Let me know.

I love hearing about similarities between languages.

On one of my previous videos,

which I'll put up there in the card,

to hit two birds with one stone,

so many of you came back

and you told me so many different things,

and it turns out that it's a phrase

that is quite common in many different languages,

but with slight variations,

so thank you everyone who got involved in that.

Now number five,

this is a phrase that my mom

used to say to me when I was a child,

and I always knew that I had done something wrong.

This is to have a bone to pick with someone.

So to have a bone to pick with someone.

My mom always used to say, Lucy,

I have a bone to pick with you.

Oh no, if she's watching now,

she'll be laughing 'cause she knows

exactly how she says it.

Lucy, I have a bone to pick with you,

and basically,

when somebody has a bone to pick with someone,

it means that they have a problem or issue

that they want to discuss with that person.

So it would normally be

because I hadn't kept my bedroom tidy and organised.

This was a problem for my mom,

and she wanted to talk to me about it.

Lucy, I have a bone to pick with you.

It's quite a nice diplomatic way,

in my opinion,

to confront an issue with someone,

instead of saying,

I want to talk to you about a problem.

I have a bone to pick with you.

I think it's a bit nicer, but softer.

Now number six,

is it number six?

Yeah, it's number six.

Number six,

is something that I actually had myself

in 2015,

late 2015.

It is to have a change of heart,

and if you have a change of heart,

it means that you change your attitude,

or your opinion about something,

normally a long-standing opinion

or attitude about something.

Usually, it's a change

from a negative point to a positive one,

but it's all relative.

My change of heart

was that I thought I wanted to work in marketing.

My dream was actually to work in L'Oreal.

I really, really,

really, really wanted to work

in the marketing department of L'Oreal.

For some reason, I had it in my head,

but suddenly,

I had a change of heart.

I realised that I wanted to continue teaching,

and more than that,

I wanted to start teaching on YouTube.

I didn't think it was going to be a career,

but I definitely knew that this connection

I had with teaching,

and the connection with the English language,

was more important to me than a typical marketing career.

So I had this big change of heart.

I had worked for four years to achieve my degree.

All I thought about was marketing,

and suddenly my attitude changed.

I had a change of heart.

Number seven is to have a crack at something.

To have a crack at something.

To have a crack at something.

Distracted by the beautiful sounds of English.

So to have a crack at something is to try something,

or to try to do something,

or to have a turn at doing something.

So for example,

maybe there's a really hard,

I always struggle with this.

You know like a jar

of pasta sauce or gherkins?

I love gherkins,

pickles in America.

Especially the ones

from the Polish section in the supermarket.

They are better than the English gherkins.

Anyway, I digress.

The jar,

the lid is really, really tight,

and you always go and ask a man in the house to open it,

and they're trying,

and they're trying,

and then I think,

oh, let me have a crack at it.

Let me attempt.

It's my turn,

and I do it,

and sometimes,

sometimes I manage it.

But that's to have a crack at something.

It is to try and do something,

or to have a turn at trying to do something.

So you could use it in a situation like,

you know, would you mind taking my picture?

It's a common tourist situation,

and you can say,

I'll have a crack at it.

I'll give it a go.

I'll try.

So yes, that's a lovely phrase for you guys to use.

Now number eight,

number eight is a romantic one.

This is to have a crush on someone.

To have a crush on someone.

So if you have a crush on someone,

it means you fancy them.

You really quite like them,

in a romantic sort of way.

So I for a very, very long time,

had a crush on Chris Pratt.

I'm not sure if you know who he is.

He's a very, very funny American actor,

and when I saw him in Jurassic Park,

I had a,

I developed this huge, huge crush,

and to this day,

I have a crush on Chris Pratt.

Now crushes normally mean in English,

they're just that initial kind of ooh!

I like him, or I like her, or I like them kind of thing.

So yes.

I'm sure we all have crushes on people.

Now number nine is one

that's very relevant to you guys actually.

It is to have a good command of something.

To have a good command of something.

This means to know something well

or to be good at something.

So we really, really,

really frequently use it with languages.

So if I say I have a good command of Spanish,

it means I know Spanish well.

I am good at speaking Spanish.

I'm more than capable of conversing.

So if you guys are applying for a job,

or you want to update your CV,

you don't want to say,

I'm fluent in English,

but you know,

you want to say that you are good at it.

You can say,

I have a good command of the English language.

I have a good command of English.

Really nice one to use.

Now number 10 is slightly more old-fashioned,

but you can use it in quite formal situations.

This is to have a good mind to do something.

To have a good mind to do something.

It's ever so slightly threatening,

and it means to be tempted to do something.

So, for example,

if I heard that somebody was gossiping behind my back,

I might say,

I have a good mind to confront them,

as in I am tempted to confront them.

It doesn't mean that I'm going to do it,

but it means that the temptation is there.

So you might receive a piece of work

from your teacher or your university lecturer,

or your boss,

and they've returned it to you with a bad mark

or a bad review,

and you might say to your colleague or classmate,

I have a good mind to go a speak to them about it,

like I am tempted to.

It's kind of like,

I know I shouldn't, but I kind of want to.

Right guys.

Those are my 10 have expressions.

There are loads more.

I really, really enjoyed making this video.

I don't know if you can see

how much I'm enjoying filming today,

but I really, really am loving it!

But for some reason,

I really enjoyed making this video.

I think it's because I got to relate

a lot of the expressions back to me in my life.

I always like to do that.

So if you enjoyed it,

please comment down below.

Definitely say if there's a similarity with sweet tooth.

I'm just obsessed with hearing about similarities

between languages on opposite sides of the world.

Yeah, subscribe to my channel.

Don't forget to connect with me

on all of my social media.

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and I've got my Twitter.

I will see you soon for another lesson!

(smack)