HAVE or HAVE GOT?

Possessions and Relationships

• Examples: 

        I have got a small house.               =               I have a small house.

        She has got a lot of friends            =              She has a lot of friends.

• HAVE GOT is less common in American English, especially in questions and negatives.  

                UK                                                                            USA

        Have you got time?                                           Do you have time?

        I have got a problem.                                        I got a problem.  (quite common)

• Common Errors with ‘HAVE GOT’

        -  ‘do’ and ‘got’ are not used together:

                RIGHT                                                        WRONG

        Do you have any children?             Do you have got any children?

    

        Have you got any children?           Have you any children?

   Don’t use ‘have got’ when we’re talking about repeated or habitual states. 

                 RIGHT                                    WRONG

                                                                                            

        He has got a headache today.                He has often got headaches.

        He has a headache today.

        He often has headaches.

‘HAVE’ to Talk about Actions and Experiences

• Examples: 

        Let’s have some wine.

        When are we having lunch?

        I had a good time at the concert.

• In expressions like these, ‘have’ can mean ‘eat’, ‘drink’, ‘enjoy’, or ‘experience’. The exact meaning depends on the noun that follows.

Common expressions:

have breakfast	have lunch	have dinner
have a dream	have an accident	have a good time
have a bad day	have a day off	have a good flight
have a good trip	have a conversation	have a disagreement
have a fight	have difficulty	have a problem

• Keep in mind that in British English using ‘have’ with the words ‘bath’, ‘shower’, ‘rest’, ‘swim’, and ‘walk’ is more common, but in American English, ‘take’ is also possible

                    UK                                                                USA

    I’m going to have a shower.                    I’m going to take a shower.    

    Let’s have a walk.                                    Let’s take a walk.

• Use ‘do’ to make questions and negative statements. Progressive/continuous forms are also possible:

                              RIGHT                                                                        WRONG

Did you have fun?                                                        Had you fun? 

            I don't know what we're having for lunch today.

• When using this structure, contractions are not common

                                    RIGHT                                                        WRONG

I have dinner at around 8 pm.           I've dinner at around 8 pm.

Taken from In English We Love