Describing people and things using the
verb ‘have’
We use the verb ‘have’ to describe features
that belong to a person, a place or a thing.
Key words: ‘to have’, descriptions, articles
adjectives, complements, linking verbs,
What kinds of physical features do you have? (Nouns)
e.g. hair, eyes, nose, ears, feet, legs, teeth, skin, etc (use an adjective with each noun)
1 I have short/long/medium-length hair
2 I have ……………………………..
3 I have ……………………………..
4 I have ……………………………..
5 I have ……………………………..
What other possessions do you have? (Nouns) e.g. a phone, a bicycle, etc
1 I have ……………………………..
2 I have ……………………………..
3 I have ……………………………..
4 I have ……………………………..
5 I have ……………………………..
We can also use ‘have got/has got’ in the same way as ‘have/has’.
For example: ‘I have got a new car’ ‘He has got a new car’
‘I have got brown hair’. ‘He has got black hair’
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Articles: ‘A’ and ‘An’ and ‘The’
We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ before a singular countable noun, so you can only use these articles when
there is only one of something; ‘a’ and ‘an’ refer to one example of something that there are
many of:
For example:
‘I have a telephone in my bag’
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This sentence means that I have one telephone in my bag, but it is not the only telephone in
the world- it is one of many.
‘I have a desktop computer at home’
This sentence means that I have one computer at home. It is one of many computers in the
world.
‘I have a sister in England and another one in Wales’
This sentence means that I have one sister in England and a second sister in Wales.
Note: ‘another’ means one more sister (i.e. another = one other).
We use ‘the’ for particular, or previously identified nouns when we know which particular
thing we are talking about e.g. the man in the corner; the United States, the small boy over
there, the car outside my house, the people of Thailand etc.
Task: Do the following sentences need ‘a’, ‘an’ or no article?
1) I have …….. cup of coffee in the morning
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2) I have ……. apple in the evening.
3) I have ……. house in Bangkok.
4) I have ……. brother in Hong Kong.
5) I have ……. problems with English grammar.
6) I have ……. dog and ….. cats.
7) I have ……. dinner at 6pm.
8) I have …… girlfriend in my hometown.
9) I have ……. Iphone 5 in my office.
10) I have ……. nice pictures of you.
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Asking questions about possessions
1: When we ask questions about the characteristics or things that belong to someone or
something, we use the helping verb ‘do’.
2: The questions will yield a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, so the tone rises at the end of the question:
Do you have a dog?
Do you have a car?
Do you have a part-time job?
Do you have a smart phone?
Do you have a laptop?
Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
The answer to the questions would either be:
‘Yes I do’
or
‘No I don’t’
or
‘Yes, I have a Honda’. / ‘No, I don’t have a car’.
Task: Ask your partner some ‘Do you have…’’ questions (Don’t forget the articles!)
1 Do you have…………………………? Answer: ……………………………………….
2 Do you have…………………………? Answer: ……………………………………….
3 Do you have…………………………? Answer: ……………………………………….
4 Do you have…………………………? Answer: ……………………………………….
5 Do you have…………………………? Answer: ……………………………………….
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Note: we use ‘any’ in a question or a negative answer, but we use ‘some’ in a positive
statement
Q. Do you have any coffee?
Yes, I do. There is some (coffee) in the cupboard.
No, I don’t have any (coffee).
Q. Do you have any money?
Yes, I do. I have about 300 baht.
No, I don’t. I need to find an ATM.
Q. Do you have a girlfriend?
Yes, I do. She’s called Ploy.
No, I don’t. I am single.
Task: Ask your partner the following question, and then change roles and answer your
partner’s questions.
Q. Do you have any pets?
……………………………………………………
Q. Do you have any spare paper?
..………………………………………………….
Q. Do you have any brothers or sisters? ………………………………………………..
Q. Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? ………………………………………………..
Q. Do you have any free time this weekend? ……………………………………….....
Q. Do you have any friends at other universities? ……………………………………..
Third person verbs
1: When we are talking about another person, i.e. not the person you are talking to, but
another person you are talking about, we use third person verbs
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He has short hair.
She has long, curly hair.
He has many friends.
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Singular
My friend has a new computer.
The teacher has a large briefcase.
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The boys have some sports equipment.
The women have some cakes and sandwiches.
The dogs in the street have a bone.
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Plural
The children have some toys.
The animals have some food
2: When we use the helping verb ‘do’ in a question, the main verb ‘have’ is an infinitive (the
‘uninflected’ base form of the verb).
Does he have a good job?
Has he got a good job?
Does she have long hair?
Has she got long hair?
Does he have a lot of money?
Has he got a lot of money?
Does he have a pen?
Has he got a pen?
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Does she have a lot of friends?
Has she got a lot of friends?
Does he have a car?
Has he got a car?
Does he have a degree?
Has he got a degree?
Task: Read the following sentences and decide whether you should use ‘have’ or ‘has’.
1 Jim………….. a good job.
2 We ………… classes every day.
3 Everyone …………. a heart.
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4 I …………… a new bag.
5 Each person …………. a ticket
6 You ……………. something in your hair.
7 The people in here ……………students.
8 Some people …………. their own laptop.
9 My cat …………..fleas
10 My friends …………… a party next weekend.
11 The man in the shop ………… a credit card.
12 The woman in the supermarket ………… a shopping trolley
13 Spiders ………… eight legs.
14 Most cars ………… four seats.
15 An elephant …………..a long trunk.
16 Water ………..two ingredients.
17 The environment …….………. many problems.
18 The city ……….. much pollution.
Adjective order
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We may use many adjectives to describe a feature, but we must put the adjectives in the right
order.
Length
Type
Colour
Noun
She has
long,
curly,
black
hair
He has
short,
straight,
brown
hair
My mum has
medium-length,
wavy,
blond
hair
I have
___________,
_______,
________,
hair
Size
Shape
Colour
Noun
She has
big,
round,
dark
eyes
He has
small,
narrow,
blue
eyes
I have
__________,
________,
eyes
__________,
Note: do not use ‘black’ to describe someone’s eyes. If you have a black eye, it is because
someone has hit you in the face.
Task: Imagine your best friend has a new boyfriend or girlfriend. What would you like
to know about him/her? Ask some questions about his/her features.
Does (s)he have ………………………..? Has (s)he got………………………?
For ‘Does he have…’ questions your answers could start
like this:
Yes, he does. He has ………………….
No, she doesn’t. She has……………….
For ‘Has he got…’ questions:
Yes, he has. He has got ………………….
No, she hasn’t. She has got……………....
Using the pronoun ‘it’
Note: we use the pronoun ‘it’ to represent a singular ‘thing’, such as a car, a house, a dog, an
organization, a building or a concept. It is used with the verb ‘has’ to identify features that
belong to the thing you are describing. Here are some examples:
‘I have a car. It has four seats and four doors.’
‘I have a house. It has four rooms.’
‘I have a telephone. It has many functions’
‘I have a computer. It has 4gb of RAM.’
Task: Write down a feature of something that the following people own. (Don’t forget to
use the right article in each sentence):
For example: I have a cat. It has a big tail.
I have ……………………………………. It has………………………………….
My brother/sister has…………………...... It has…………………………………
My friend has…………………………….. It has…………………………………
Asking questions
When we ask questions about a telephone for example we might ask:
Does it have a video player?
Does it have an internet connection?
Does it have any games?
Does it have an MP3 player?
Task: Think of some questions you could ask about someone’s house:
Does your house have……………………………………………………..?
Does your house have……………………………………………………..?
Does your house have……………………………………………………..?
Ask your partner these questions, and then change roles.
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