Monday, February 15, 2016

Which tenses take on HAS, HAVE and HAD?

You may be wondering which tenses take on HAS, HAVE and HAD if you are studying English.  It can get a bit confusing!  So let's take a look:

The Present Tense: HAS or HAVE?

Quite simply, for the verb TO HAVE, there are two conjugations: HAS and HAVE.  Notice that the third person singular is the only subject that takes on HAS 

Singular                             Plural

I                   HAVE             We       HAVE
You              HAVE             You     HAVE
He                HAS                They    HAVE
She               HAS
It (my dog)  HAS

The Past Tense: HAD...

What makes English so easy is the fact that its past tenses are all the same.  The past tense of HAVE is always HAD, so it makes it super easy to remember.

Singular                                   Plural

I                      HAD                  We       HAD
You                 HAD                 You      HAD
He                   HAD                 They     HAD
She                  HAD
It (my dog)      HAD                 

Okay, that's easy, but what about the PRESENT PERFECT?

The present perfect is used to express past happenings that continue to the present or relate to the present.  It always takes on an auxiliary verb TO HAVE plus the past participle.  Let's take a look using the verb TO SEE.  To understand when and why we use the present perfect, click here on another post. 

Singular                                         Plural

I                      HAVE SEEN         We       HAVE SEEN
You                HAVE SEEN         You      HAVE SEEN
He                  HAS SEEN            They    HAVE SEEN
She                 HAS SEEN
It (the dog)    HAS SEEN

Notice here that again, the 3rd person singular takes on the verb conjugation HAS.

And what about the PAST PERFECT?


Once again, the past perfect is easy because the auxiliary verb does not change.  It is always HAD + the past participle.  Let's take a look using the verb TO BE in the past participle:

Singular                                               Plural

I                      HAD GONE                We            HAD GONE
You                 HAD GONE               You           HAD GONE
He                   HAD GONE               They          HAD GONE
She                  HAD GONE
It (my dog)      HAD GONE

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