He has or he have?

Hello lovely students! Have you found yourself using he have a lot in sentences when you are speaking English? Have you thought, ‘is it the correct form?’

Well, I would like to let you know it isn’t. He have is not correct in English grammar rules. Do not worry if you thought it was right: that’s what I’m here for.

Why is he have incorrect and he has correct?

Read below to find out more.

The verb have

Before I teach you anything about what pronouns we use with have and has, let me tell you a bit about what the verb have is.

The verb have is an irregular verb that is different in the present simple from the past simple and past participle. We use it for many purposes. It is used for possession, as an auxiliary verb and plenty more ways. There are many definitions of have at the bottom of this article if you want to know more.

Because have is an irregular verb, it has different verb forms in the tenses. Look at the table below.

TenseVerb have

Can you see how the present simple tense has two versions of have and the past simple and past participle do not? Remember this.

What pronouns use has?

Has is used by the third-person singular pronouns he, she and it. Have is used by first- and second-person pronouns and third-person plural pronouns I, you, we and they.

Some examples of using has with a third-person singular pronoun (he, she, it) are:

He has a car.

She has dinner at 8 p.m.

It has a long tail.

Examples with the first person (I, we) are:

I have to go out.

We have long hair.

Examples with the second person (you) are:

You have a letter.

You have won £1,000,000.

And finally, examples with the third person plural pronoun (they) are:

They have two children.

Can you see how we use each pronoun differently with the verb have or has? Remember, he, she and it are the only pronouns that use has.

Extra note: we also use has with someone, somebody, something, everyone, everybody, everything, anyone, anybody, anything, no one, nobody and nothing. For example, someone has eaten my biscuits is correct. Someone have eaten my biscuits is incorrect.

Negative contractions of has and have

The negative of has is has not. Its contraction is hasn’t.

He hasn’t done his homework.

She hasn’t seen her.

The negative of have is have not. Its contraction is haven’t.

I haven’t got brown hair.

They haven’t read the book.

What tenses is has used in?

We can use the verb have in any tense, but has is used mainly in the present tense and the present perfect tense. Let’s take a peek at some example sentences with has.

1) Present tense

He has a lot of money.

She has to pay her bills.

2) Present perfect tense

He has written to his lawyer.

He hasn’t spoken to Julia.

Read more about the tenses here.

What are the different meanings of have?

As I mentioned above, have has a lot of meanings in the English language. Let’s look at some definitions and example sentences.

1) Have as an auxiliary verb

Have is an auxiliary verb (also known as a helping verb). We use it as an auxiliary for the present perfect tense with the past participle.

He has been to Australia.

2) To own

He has a tiny apartment in the middle of London.

3) To be ill

He has a headache and cannot come to work.

4) To eat or drink something

He has breakfast at 8 a.m.

Extra note: here have is a synonym of the verb eat.

5) When you need or must do something

He has to go to New York for his work meeting.

Extra note: here, have is a synonym of must. To use this as must, put the word to after have (have/has to).

Is that everything?

Absolutely not! For more engaging English content, head to my YouTube channel English with Lucy here.