Learn English Grammar: "to have" in the present tense

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In the next few minutes you're going to master

one of the most important verbs in the English language, and that's the verb "to have".

Now, not only is it one of the most important verbs because we use it so often for so many different things,

it's also, unfortunately, a verb where a lot of students make mistakes, especially at a

basic level. And sometimes these basic mistakes can cause problems even down the road when

you reach advanced levels. So, whether you're a beginner student, or intermediate, or advanced

- please watch and just make sure you know it; and if you're reviewing it, make sure

that you review it really, really well. Okay? So, here we go.

So, with the verb "to have", one of the reasons it's so important is because we use it not

only as a basic verb by itself, but we also use it as a helping verb. All right? When

we use it as a basic verb by itself, we can use it to show possession; what somebody has,

what somebody owns. For example, you could talk about an object that you have, a thing

that you have. You could say: "I have a car." You could talk about somebody's features,

or qualities, or characteristics. For example: "She has nice hair." Or you could talk about

relationships that people have, for example: "They have children." Okay? You can also use

the verb "to have" to talk about actions, and we use this a lot. Like:

"I... I have a shower every day. I have dinner at 7 o'clock." Or: "He has a lot of meetings today." Right?

So, we use it in so many different ways. And, of course, as I said, we also use it in more

advanced ways as a helping verb in our perfect tenses. For example: "I have done my homework."

Okay?

So, let's begin understanding exactly how this simple verb is structured. All right.

So, I've divided the board into three sections: positive, negative, and questions. So, you'll

learn exactly how to use it in all three situations, and those are the only situations. Okay? So,

first: "I have", "You have", "We have", and "They have".

With these four pronouns, we say: "have",

and that's our base form of the verb, and that's what we use here.

But where does it change, and where do most of the mistakes happen? They happen, here.

For: "he", "she", and "it", we don't say "have". We have to say: "has". "He has a car.",

"She has a car.", "It has a camera." Okay? Your cellphone, for example. All right? So, make

sure that you remember this, because this part is very important. You will see that

actually we don't have "has" in any other section of this entire structure, but we do

have it here. Okay? I'll come back to it.

Now, what happens when we make the sentence negative? So, instead of saying:

"I have a camera", you can say: "I don't have a camera."

What is "don't"? "Don't" is short for "do not",

but when we're speaking, we just shorten it, we contract it, and it becomes "don't".

"I don't have a camera, you don't have a camera, we don't have a camera, and they don't have a camera,

so we're not going to take any pictures." Okay? All right. "Don't have".

Now, what happens when we're saying: "he", "she", or "it"? Now, two things happen. First

of all, we have to use a different word, here. We don't say: "do not", we say:

"does not".

When we shorten it, it becomes: "He doesn't". And then you come back to the base form of

the verb, so you say: "He doesn't have". Not: "He doesn't has", which is a mistake that

many students make, but you're coming back to the base form of the verb. Look at all

the places where we see the base form of the verb. Okay?

Here, here, here, here, here.

So, where do we not have the base form of the verb? Only with: "he", "she", and "it"

in the positive sentence. Okay? So, let's come back: "He doesn't have a car.",

"She doesn't have a car.", and "It doesn't have a camera." Okay? That's the negative.

Now, if you want to ask a question, then, again, we're going to use the words: "do"

and "does". So, here: "Do I have...?", "Do you have...?", "Do we have...?",

"Do they have...?" All right? And with: "he", "she", and "it", you have to use the word "does".

"Does he have a camera?", "Does she have a cellphone?", "Does it have an air conditioner?"

Okay? The... The room. All right? So, what you also have to remember is when you ask

a question with a question word, like "who" or "what": "What do we have to do?" then you

put that here. "What do we have...?", "Who do we have coming for dinner?",

"When do we have to be there?" So whatever the question word is, you can put that at the start of

the question, but you still keep this same structure. So whatever you've learned here

is true, even if you have a question word before. All right? "When do we have...?",

"Where do we have...?", "Who do we have...?", "How much do we have...?" All right?

So, you're still going to use the same structure. And the same thing here, except we're using "does":

"Does he have time?", "Does she have time?" Right? So... And: "Does it have...?" All right?

So, this is your basic structure. It's a good idea if you can sort of, you know, write this

down. Don't just look at it. Try to write it down yourself, get an idea of what's going

where, so then your brain has something to kind of connect to, it has a structure to

put this... All this information into. And then, of course, you have to do a lot of practice,

practical practice.

Okay, so let's do that. For example, now:

"Your brother __________ a cool car."

First we'll make it positive, then we'll make it negative, and then we'll make it into a

question. Because the way that you will know that you really understand this verb and can

use it properly is if you can make a positive sentence, a negative sentence, and then make

it into a question. So, let's do that here. "Your brother has a cool car." Make it negative:

"Your brother"... Now, your brother is what? It's "he", right? So: "Your brother

doesn't have a cool car." Or: "Does your brother have a cool car?" Okay?

Now, we're just making this for the sake of the examples, all right?

Next: "Mary __________ a new job."

Now, what do we say? "have" or "has"? Now, what's Mary? Mary is like "she", so: "Mary..."

We can put that, here. Okay? Well, actually, you know what? I'm not going to put it here

for now, because later when we change it, then it won't make sense. All right? But you

keep it in your mind and you say it aloud with me. All right? So:

"Mary has a new job."

Correct? Make it negative:

"Mary doesn't have a new job." Make it a question:

"Does Mary have a new job?"

Good. Okay?

Next: "The cat __________ a black tail."

Now, what's the cat? Which of these pronouns describes the cat? It would be "it". So:

"The cat has a black tail." Make it negative: "The cat doesn't have a black tail." Make it a

question: "Does the cat have a black tail?" Okay? Are you getting it? There's a kind of

rhythm to it, and if you start to say all three, you'll get into the rhythm of it. Because

learning to use a language is not just, of course, about learning the grammar. Finally,

it's about remembering it, it's about your mouth remembering what to say, it's about

your brain knowing what to say, and your ears hearing that: "Yes, that's right" or

"No, that doesn't sound right." Okay? So there's a lot of things going on when you're using

a new language.

Let's continue. Number four: "The children __________ their own rooms."

Now, what's the children? Which pronoun is that?

"They", okay? "The children

have their own rooms." Good. Make it negative:

"The children don't have their own rooms." Make it a question:

"Do the children have their own rooms?" Good. Very nice.

Number five: "Mom and I __________ dinner at 7:00."

Now, what's "mom and I"? That's like "we", good. "Mom and I have dinner at 7:00.",

"Mom and I don't have dinner at 7:00." Make it a question:

"Do mom and I have dinner at 7:00?"

I don't remember. Sometimes.

Okay, number six: "My laptop __________ a big screen."

What's my laptop, which one is that? That's like "it". Right? So:

"My laptop has a big screen."

Okay. Make it negative: "My laptop doesn't have a big screen." Very good.

We're coming back to the base form of the verb, and make it a question: "Does your laptop",

shall we say. "Does your laptop have a big screen?" Okay? Very nice. Okay?

So, you did these examples and that's great. Of course, you need to do lots of examples

so that it comes easily and correctly to you, without too much stress. Okay? You want it

to be enjoyable. When you enjoy the language, then it's more fun, and you keep learning

and you keep practicing and you feel good. All right? So, to practice some more,

go to our website at www.engvid.com. That's one thing you can do. There, you can do a quiz on this.

And besides that, come up with some of your own examples. This verb "have" is so common,

it's really easy to come up with sentences of your own. So, wherever you are right now,

look around, and just say some sentences. You could say, for example: "I have a desk.

I have a carpet. I have some paintings on the wall." Okay? And then take those sentences

and make them negative, take those sentences and make them questions. Use different pronouns.

Say: "I have a desk. He has a desk." Okay? That's a really good exercise to do, too.

"I have a desk. He has a desk. I have a carpet. She has a carpet." Okay? Because that's the

basic change that you need to make, here. And the same way if it's a negative sentence

or if it's a question. All right?

You've done a really good job. I know there's a lot going on-okay?-when you're using these

sentences. You are connecting the words with the pronouns, and the verb, and the negative,

and the positive. But take it one step at a time, take it systematically.

If you get confused doing everything, don't do everything. Just do one thing, just do the positive. First,

just stay here, get those all right. Okay? You don't have to try to do everything and

get confused. Just do a little bit really well. When you feel good and confident about

that, do the next part, and go forward one step at a time.

In order to do that, you could also subscribe to my YouTube channel where I have lots of videos

which I believe could help you along your way. Okay?

Thanks very much for watching, and all the best with your English.

Bye for now.