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Irregular verb

have

/hæv/

Base
have
Past simple
had
Past participle
had

Usage

had is the same in the simple past and the participle; in have had, the first have is the auxiliary and the second is the main verb.

Meaning

  • to own, hold, or experience something

Example

We had a wonderful holiday.

She had a headache all afternoon.

They have had this car for ten years.

Teaching note

Have is both a main verb meaning possess or experience and an auxiliary that combines with a past participle to form perfect tenses.

Common mistake

In ‘She has went home’, has is correct but the following verb is not: an auxiliary does not license a simple-past form.

Correction: Use ‘She went home’ without the auxiliary, or ‘She has gone home’ with has followed by the participle.

Use have, has, and had correctly