The verb have has three forms – have, has and had
Forms used in the present tense – has, have
Form used in the past tense – had
Study the given table.
Subject | Present tense | Past tense |
Singular | Has | Had |
Plural | Have | Had |
I | Have | Had |
You | Have | Had |
He | Has | Had |
She | Has | Had |
They | Have | Had |
We | Have | Had |
It | Has | Had |
Now read these sentences
Present tense
Singular | Plural |
I have a car. | They have two cars. |
She has a pet dog. | We have two pet dogs. |
It has a long tail. | They have long tails. |
My sister has a daughter. | My brother and his wife have several cars. |
John has a big house in the city. | John and Mary have a big house in the city. |
That bird has blue feathers. | Birds have wings and feathers. |
A spider has eight legs. | Peacocks have beautiful feathers. |
Past tense
Singular | Plural |
I had a bad headache yesterday. | We had ice cream yesterday. |
I had an important test last week. | He had a black jacket. |
We had a quiz competition last month. | We had oysters for lunch. |
In the present tense, if the subject is a singular noun or pronoun, use has.
If the subject is a plural noun or pronoun, use have.
Exceptions
Use have with the pronouns I and you.
In the past tense, use had with all subjects.
Exercise
Complete the following sentences with has, have and had.
1. We ……………….. a nice time yesterday.
2. She ………………… a new hairstyle every week.
3. I ………………… no plans for the holidays.
4. She ……………….. a pleasant voice.
5. I ………………… brought my tennis things. Let’s go and play.
6. He ………………… an interview last week.