Auxiliaries

Concept: Concept: Use of has, had, and have

Definition

• ‘Have’, ‘Has’ and ‘Had’ are referred to as auxiliary verbs.
• An auxiliary verb is the one which expresses the tense and voice of other verbs.

1. Has
• ‘Has’ is used with pronouns like he, she, it or singular nouns.
• It is used in sentences written in the present tense.


Examples:

1. He has a red bicycle.
2. It has a long tail.
2. Have
• ‘Have’ is used with pronouns like you, I, we, they, and plural nouns like toys, dogs, animals, people, boys, girls, etc.
• It is used in sentences in the present tense.

1. We have to visit him tomorrow.
2. They have many cars.
3. Had

‘Had’ is used with pronouns like I, he, she, you, it, they, and we. It is also used with both singular or plural nouns in the past tense.

Examples:

1. They had chicken in the lunch.
2. I had to wait a long time to meet him

Common Mistakes

One of the most common mistakes made with auxiliaries is confusing the tense of the sentence by using the wrong auxiliary verb. Thus, remember the tense of the three auxiliary verbs.

Examples:

1. She has a brown bag – Present tense
2. I have many toys with me – Present tense
3. She had woken up on time– Past tense