What does have got mean?

In British English it means have in the present: possession, family, illness, and availability. I've got a spare key equals I have a spare key. She's got two sisters. We've got time. It is not a present perfect of get in this use, and it is not a past tense.

When do I use has got and when have got?

Has got after he, she, it, and any singular noun: She's got, The annex has got. Have got after I, you, we, they, and plural nouns: I've got, They've got. The question inverts the same form: Has she got...? Have they got...?

How do you make questions and negatives with have got?

Move have or has in front of the subject for a question: Have you got the docket? Has she got a charger? Put not after have or has for a negative: I haven't got, she hasn't got. Do not add do. Short answers are Yes, I have / No, she hasn't, without got.

Is have got used in American English?

Less as the default. American English asks Do you have a charger and says I don't have a charger. I've got is still understood and is used, especially in speech, but Do you have is the unmarked American present. I've gotten is a different form: the American present perfect of get.

Can I use have got in the past?

No. The past of I've got a cello is I had a cello. Questions: Did you have...? Negatives: I didn't have.... Have got also has no infinitive and no -ing form; those slots belong to have (to have, having). Have got to for obligation is likewise present-only; the past is had to.

English grammar · Beginner

Have Got Has Got: Possession in the Present

Written by Eleanor Whitfield, Lead English Curriculum Editor · Reviewed September 2026

Have got and has got mean have in the sense of possession, family, illness, and some states (I've got a crate. She's got two sisters. I've got a cold.). Have got is the usual British present; American English prefers have. Questions and negatives invert have (Have you got...? I haven't got...) and do not use do. Got here is not a past tense, and have got is not used for past possession: that is had.

She's got a spare key for the annex.

has got: third person singular, present possession, not a past

What it is

Have got is a present-tense way of saying have when you mean possession, relationships, and a handful of states: I've got a cello, She's got three siblings, We've got time. Has got is the third-person singular (he, she, it). The structure looks like a present perfect, but it does not mean a completed action; it means a present fact. That is why you cannot say I had got a cello yesterday for past possession, and why I've got is not the same as I've gotten in American English.

I've got the spare key, but I haven't got the alarm code. Have you got it? (Possession now; negative with haven't got; question by inverting have.)

How to spot it

Look for have/has + got + a noun phrase, with no past-time adverb such as yesterday. In questions, have/has moves in front of the subject. In negatives, not sits after have/has. If you see do/does with got (Do you got), the form is wrong.

I've got a berth on the first ferry. (I have got, contracted, present possession)
The annex hasn't got a lift. (has not got: negative, third person)
Have we got enough glaze? (have inverted, no do)
She's got two rehearsals on Thursday. (has got for a scheduled present state)

Have got is not used in the past, the infinitive, or the -ing form. For those, English goes back to have: I had a spare key. I'd like to have more time. Having a cold is miserable.

Have Got and Has Got Quick Reference

Have got in the present: forms you actually need

Person	Affirmative	Negative / question
I	I have got / I've got	I have not got / I haven't got; Have I got...?
you	you have got / you've got	you haven't got; Have you got...?
he / she / it	he has got / he's got	he hasn't got; Has he got...?
we	we have got / we've got	we haven't got; Have we got...?
they	they have got / they've got	they haven't got; Have they got...?
Short answer	Yes, I have. / Yes, she has.	No, I haven't. / No, she hasn't.
American present	I have a spare key.	I don't have...; Do you have...?
Past (both varieties)	I had a spare key.	I didn't have...; Did you have...?

Common Have Got and Has Got Examples in English

Have got in the uses that make it more than a synonym of own:

Things You Possess

I've got a spare key for the side door.: physical possession now
She hasn't got a charger with her.: negative possession, hasn't got
Have you got the docket for this crate?: question by inverting have
We've got two extra chairs in the foyer.: we have got, present fact

Got adds nothing to the meaning of have here; it is part of the British present-possession idiom.

Family, Features, and Illness

He's got three sisters in Lisbon.: family relationship, not ownership
She's got short hair and a low voice.: description, present state
I've got a cold, so I won't fire the kiln today.: illness as a present state
The studio's got a leak in the north roof.: has got with a place as subject

These are states, which is why have got stays out of continuous forms: not I'm having got a cold.

Availability and Necessity

We've got time to glaze one more bowl.: time available now
I haven't got a clue how that mix went wrong.: fixed phrase, still present
You've got to sign the docket before you leave.: have got to = must, present obligation
Has she got to be at the quay by six?: has got to in a question

Have got to is obligation, a neighbour of must. Have got a meeting is a scheduled present, not obligation.

Questions and Negatives

Have they got a spare oar on board?: yes/no question, have in front
What have you got in that crate?: wh-question, have still before the subject
I haven't got any spare glaze left.: haven't got + any, not no extra do
She hasn't got much patience this morning.: hasn't got + uncountable, much in a negative

Short answers drop got: Yes, I have. No, she hasn't. Yes, I've got is possible but heavier.

How Have Got Works

A present idiom that borrows perfect forms and then refuses to behave like a perfect.

Have Got Is Present Possession, Not a Completed Action

I've got a cello means I have a cello now. It does not mean I obtained a cello, and it does not combine with yesterday, last year, or when I was a child. The got is historically a past participle, which is why the form looks like a present perfect, but the meaning has bleached to a present state. Treat it as a present simple with a two-word verb.

I've got the spare key on this hook.

present location of a possessed thing, no past time

I've got = I have, now.

Invert Have; Do Not Add Do

Questions move have/has in front of the subject: Have you got a charger? Has she got the docket? Negatives put not after have/has: I haven't got, she hasn't got. Do you got, Does she got, and I don't got are not standard. Short answers use have, not got: Yes, I have. No, she hasn't.

Has the annex got a lift? No, it hasn't.

has inverted; short answer drops got

Have you got...? I haven't got. Yes, I have.

Has Got After He, She, It

The third-person singular is has got, usually contracted to 's got: She's got, It's got, The kiln's got a crack. Do not write have got after a singular third-person subject, and do not write has got after I, you, we, or they. The 's in she's got is has, the same contraction as she's been, not is.

The kiln's got a crack along the door.

's got = has got after a singular subject

He/she/it has got. I/you/we/they have got.

Use Have When Have Got Cannot Go

Have got has no past, no infinitive, no -ing form, and no future with will. For those slots, switch to have: I had a spare key. I didn't have a charger. I'd like to have more time. We will have the results on Thursday. Having a cold kept her home. American present-tense have (Do you have a key?) is available in British English too, and is the form you need in those other tenses.

I had a spare key last March, but I haven't got one now.

had for past possession, haven't got for the present

Have got now. Had then. Have everywhere else.

Common Mistakes with Have Got and Has Got

Incorrect: Do you got a spare key?

Correct: Have you got a spare key? / Do you have a spare key?

Have got makes questions by inverting have, not by adding do. Do you have is the American (and formal British) alternative. Do you got mixes the two systems.

Incorrect: She have got two rehearsals on Thursday.

Correct: She's got two rehearsals on Thursday.

Third person singular needs has got. Have got belongs with I, you, we, and they.

Incorrect: I had got a cello when I was twelve.

Correct: I had a cello when I was twelve.

Have got is a present-possession idiom. Past possession is had, with did in questions and negatives. Had got reads as had obtained, if it reads at all.

Incorrect: I'm having got a cold.

Correct: I've got a cold.

Have got is stative. It has no continuous form. I'm having a cold is also wrong for the same stative reason; I'm having a shower is a different, dynamic have.

American Have, and Why Got Is Not a Past

The same meaning, two present systems, and a past that belongs to neither got.

British have got vs. American have

British everyday speech uses I've got / Have you got / I haven't got for possession. American everyday speech uses I have / Do you have / I don't have. Both varieties understand both systems. Written British English often uses have as well, especially in formal prose. Mixing the systems inside one question (Do you have got) is the form to avoid.

Have you got a charger? (British default): have inverted, got kept
Do you have a charger? (American default): do-support, no got
I don't have a charger. (both, and British writing): do-support negative of have

I've gotten is the American present perfect of get (I have received or become), not a possession form. British English uses I've got for possession, and I've got a letter in speech can also mean I have received one.

Got is not the past of have got

The past of I've got a cello is I had a cello, not I had got a cello (that reading, if it occurs, is I had obtained). There is no I did got or I have got yesterday. For a past question: Did you have a spare key. For a past negative: I didn't have a spare key.

I had a berth on that ferry.: past possession with had
Did you have the alarm code with you?: past question with did, no got
She didn't have a cold last week.: past negative with didn't have

Had got in British English can be past perfect of get (She had got the letter before she left). That is obtain, not possession-have.

Have got to

Have got to + bare infinitive means must in the present: You've got to sign the docket. It has the same limits as have got: no past *had got to in this sense in careful use (use had to), no infinitive, no -ing. Have to covers every tense: I have to, I had to, I will have to, having to.

We've got to be at the quay by six.: present obligation, British
We have to be at the quay by six.: same meaning, both varieties
We had to be at the quay by six.: past obligation, have to, not have got

Have got to is informal. Must and have to are the forms for careful writing and for every non-present slot.

Quick Check: Have Got and Has Got

Rewrite with have got / has got, or switch to have where have got cannot go.

1. She possesses a spare key. (present, British)

Answer: She's got a spare key. / She has got a spare key.

has got after she

2. Ask a colleague about a charger. (British question)

Answer: Have you got a charger?

invert have, keep got, no do

3. I do not possess any spare glaze. (British negative)

Answer: I haven't got any spare glaze.

haven't got + any

4. I possessed a berth last March. (past)

Answer: I had a berth last March.

had, not had got, for past possession

5. Short answer to Has the annex got a lift? (no)

Answer: No, it hasn't.

short answers drop got

Have Got and Has Got FAQs

What does have got mean?: In British English it means have in the present: possession, family, illness, and availability. I've got a spare key equals I have a spare key. She's got two sisters. We've got time. It is not a present perfect of get in this use, and it is not a past tense.
When do I use has got and when have got?: Has got after he, she, it, and any singular noun: She's got, The annex has got. Have got after I, you, we, they, and plural nouns: I've got, They've got. The question inverts the same form: Has she got...? Have they got...?
How do you make questions and negatives with have got?: Move have or has in front of the subject for a question: Have you got the docket? Has she got a charger? Put not after have or has for a negative: I haven't got, she hasn't got. Do not add do. Short answers are Yes, I have / No, she hasn't, without got.
Is have got used in American English?: Less as the default. American English asks Do you have a charger and says I don't have a charger. I've got is still understood and is used, especially in speech, but Do you have is the unmarked American present. I've gotten is a different form: the American present perfect of get.
Can I use have got in the past?: No. The past of I've got a cello is I had a cello. Questions: Did you have...? Negatives: I didn't have.... Have got also has no infinitive and no -ing form; those slots belong to have (to have, having). Have got to for obligation is likewise present-only; the past is had to.