The verb HAVE possesses some unexpected meanings and grammatical uses
THE VERSATILITY OF have
The familiar uses of HAVE – expressing the idea of “possess”, for example, or forming the” present perfect” and “past perfect” tenses – are only a small part of its capability. This is a verb that is very much “multi-use” (see 3. Multi-Use Words), and is as a result difficult to master completely without a great deal of practice in English.
It is the less familiar uses of HAVE – both alone and in common grammatical combinations – that are the focus here (though see 267. Participles and Gerunds with “Having” for an aspect not included here). The approach is similar to that taken elsewhere in this blog with MAKE, GO, “Do”, GIVE, TAKE, COME and SEE.
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MEANINGS OF have + Object
HAVE without a following verb needs a noun or equivalent as its “object” (see 8. Object-Dropping Errors). Some of its meanings are as far removed from the basic “possession” one as are some meanings of the “possessive” noun ending –’s (see 58. Optional Apostrophe Endings).
The following meanings are notable:
1. “Experience or Suffer”
EXAMPLE
(a) Careless drivers risk having an accident.
Common objects of this use of HAVE include an encounter, an experience, fun, a good/ tough time, *an idea , *an opportunity, pleasure, success, *a surprise, a visit, a burglary, a (car) crash, a defeat, difficulty, a disappointment, a disaster, doubts, a fall, *an illness, *a pain, *a problem, trouble.
These objects usually represent something not sought by the subject – often undesirable – so that HAVE is rather like a passive verb (see 21. Active Verbs with Non-Active Meanings). The underlined objects are also possible when HAVE possesses either a more purposeful meaning (#6 below) or a static one (#8).
GET is possible instead of HAVE with objects marked * – unusual because elsewhere it often suggests a more active subject. However, GET is informal and not recommended in professional writing (see 108. Formal & Informal Words).
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2. “Receive”
EXAMPLE
(b) Successful athletes have assistance from a coach.
Typical objects here are benefits delivered by other people, usually through arrangement by the receiver:
assistance, a face-lift, a medical examination, a hair-cut, help, instruction, a lesson, a massage, a reward, success, surgery, treatment.
GET is normally an informal alternative.
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3. “Be Participating In”
EXAMPLE
(c) Some students could not attend because they had a lecture.
This meaning involves social events and implies some purposeful planning.
an appointment, a class, an engagement, an exam, a lesson, a match/game, a meeting (in a group), a meeting (with someone), a party, a (religious) service.
Extended events may allow the present continuous tense of HAVE.
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4. “Be Approaching”
EXAMPLE
(d) The Secretary left early because he had another commitment.
HAVE here needs a simple tense and a future event as object. All of the nouns listed in #3 are usable. Other possibilities are:
an assignment, a commitment, a flight, an itinerary, a project, a target, a task.
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5. “Consume”
The object of HAVE here is mostly nouns of food and drink:
a drink, a beer, a cake, a coffee, a cup of … , a glass of … , a meal, a sandwich, a snack, breakfast, lunch, tea, supper, something to eat.
Some varieties of English keep an older use of TAKE with some of these instead of HAVE (see 264. Variations in the Use of TAKE, #5).
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6. “Engage in or Perform” (Informal)
This meaning suggests deliberate choice. It involves noun objects that are spelt exactly the same as verbs and express everyday activities. Common ones are:
exercise, an experience, fun, a go, a holiday, a look, a nap, a rest, a say, a shower, a sleep, a think, a good (etc.) time, a touch, a try, a vote, a walk.
Nouns like this are also found sometimes after a preposition, e.g. on the go, on the make, worth a try (see 164. Fixed Preposition Phrases).
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7. “Engage in / Perform” (Formal)
EXAMPLE
(e) Galileo had a disagreement with the Pope about planets.
This meaning involves “action” nouns of a more typical kind than those in the last section (see 249. Action Noun Endings). Unfortunately, not all such nouns allow HAVE – GIVE and MAKE are especially common (see 173. “Do Research” or “Make Research”?) – so that those needing HAVE must be memorised. For some reasons behind using an expression like had a disagreement instead of just a verb like disagreed, see 39. “Decide” or “Make a Decision”?.
Some action nouns after HAVE are followed by a typical preposition, e.g. …an argument WITH someone (see 123. Prepositional Verbs Containing a Noun. Other examples are a debate (about sth), a disagreement (with sb/about sth), a discussion (with sb/about sth), an effect/impact (on sb/sth – see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1, #[c] and 81. Tricky Word Contrasts 2, #5), an encounter (with sb/sth), an influence (on sb/sth) and a meeting (with sb).
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8. “Hold” (Especially Mentally)
This category resembles #7 in that the object is usually derived from a verb. It differs from both #1 and #7 in expressing a state rather than action (see 66. Types of Passive Verb Meaning). Common objects include:
a feeling, an idea, an inkling (of), an intention, a meaning, a memory, a message, a plan, a suggestion, a suspicion, a liking/taste (for), an understanding, a vision, a wish.
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9. “Be Characterised By”
This use, common in professional writing, names a feature of something that is either intrinsic to it or decided on by reasoned thought. It can often be paraphrased with there +BE (see 161. Special Uses of “There” Sentences, #4 and #7). Typical objects are:
(dis)advantage, benefit, cause, characteristic, colour, consequence, difference, problem, property, reason, similarity, use
Note that English rarely says ?is caused by many reasons, preferring has many reasons. For numerous examples of HAVE with specific properties like length, see 163. Ways of Naming Properties.
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MEANINGS OF have COMBINED WITH ANOTHER VERB
Combining HAVE with a “past” participle does not always make “perfect” tenses. Compare:
(f) The Normans had built castles to consolidate their power.
(g) The Normans had castles built to consolidate their power.
In (f), had creates an ordinary past perfect (active) tense of BUILD. It shows that the Normans themselves did the building sometime before the past moment that is the writer’s focus (see 171. Aspects of the Past Perfect Tense).
In (g), however, had is not creating this tense, but is HAVE acting as a main verb in the past simple tense, with the meaning of “caused”. This is a result of had being separated from the participle built by an object castles. The separation also causes built to be passive rather than active (past participles are only active directly after HAVE – see 291. Subtleties of “-ed”, #2). As a result, we understand that the Normans, rather than doing the building themselves, employed other people to do it for them.
Sometimes, a different meaning is created by an object splitting HAVE and a past participle:
(h) Be careful not to have your money stolen.
Now, despite the structural similarity to (g), HAVE means “suffer” rather than “cause”. It is usually the context of use that indicates this meaning, or our knowledge of everyday life. We know, for example, that people do not generally try to arrange undesirable events like being robbed, so we conclude that the meaning must be “suffer” rather than “cause”. Sometimes, though, the intended meaning is unclear (see 233. Structures with a Double Meaning 3, #2).
These “cause” and “suffer” meanings of HAVE can even exist when the verb after the object is active instead of passive – possible when it is either an infinitive (without to) or an -ing participle. Infinitives are quite common after other verbs meaning “cause” (see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1, #a), but not without to (see 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive, #7). Here are some examples of HAVE + infinitive meaning “cause” and “suffer”:
(i) It is desirable to have (= “cause”) young children WORK in groups.
(j) Farmers can easily have (= “suffer”) pests EAT their crops.
If -ing verbs replace these infinitives, a difference of “aspect” is created: whereas the infinitive makes the action seem complete, -ing makes it ongoing. This infinitive/-ing contrast is widespread in English: for other examples, see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “It, 203. Expanding an Adjective with Words after it and 232. Verbs with an Object + “-ing“ (#3).
Finally, HAVE is usable with an object + infinitive to express a current or imminent task, as in have things to do (see 260. Formal Written Uses of “Thing”, #12), have a problem to solve, have a train to catch and have a mountain to climb (= “be faced with a difficult task” – see 241. Some Common Figurative Phrases).
Such expressions need to be distinguished from the common use of HAVE TO without a separating object (e.g. have to sleep), which of course establishes or reports a necessity (see 129. Differences between Necessity Verbs, #2). An object after HAVE always rules out the necessity meaning, but an absent one does not necessarily confirm it. This is because there are some objects – the relative pronouns who, which, that etc. – that typically precede rather than follow HAVE, making both meanings possible (see 301. Structures with a Double Meaning 5, #2).
Objects of HAVE make a phrase with the subsequent to verb (see 239. Nouns Combined with a “to” Verb). The meaning of HAVE resembles its “be approaching” one with just a noun (#4 above); indeed, a to verb could easily be added after that use.
Expressions like have things to do should also be distinguished from combinations like have a need to sleep, where the noun is not the object of the to verb (see 182. Structures with a Double Meaning 2, #1).
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PRACTICE EXERCISE (Use of HAVE)
Here is an exercise that may assist memorization of the various uses described above. Can you find a way of saying the same thing as each sentence below using HAVE. The part of a sentence to change is underlined. Answers are below.
1. If workers are not following procedures, it is best to discuss this with them.
2. Instead of giving up, it is desirable to at least make an attempt.
3. Some team players were absent because they were attending a meeting.
4. Before submitting work, many writers will arrange for somebody else to proof-read it.
5. Competent engineers should be able to see an image of a completed project.
6. The new traffic lights were causing the traffic to flow more freely.
7. After their opponents scored a third goal, the team’s task was immense.
8. Young children find it difficult to visualise imaginary situations.
9. Even the worst performers can improve if someone instructs them.
10. Banks worry that their cash will be stolen.
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Answers
1 = have a discussion; 2 = have a go/try; 3 = they had a meeting; 4 = have it proof-read; 5 = have a vision/ idea; 6 = had the traffic flowing (better than flow); 7 = team had a mountain to climb/had an immense task (to achieve); 8 = have difficulty/a problem visualising (not to visualise: see 78. Infinitive versus Preposition after Nouns); 9 = they have instruction; 10 = they will have their cash stolen.
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