haben — to have

1.haben — to have

haben is one of the most frequent German verbs. Its basic meaning is “to have”, but at A1 it covers a much wider range of situations: possession, family, time, appointments, and several common expressions for states and needs.

Core model:

subject + finite form of haben + other information

Examples:

Two short forms are especially important to remember:

du hast
er / sie / es hat

They are not formed like the regular du and er forms that might be expected from hab-.

2.The basic meaning of haben

In its most direct use, haben says that a person or another participant has something.

A useful way to see the structure:

WHO?         WHAT DO THEY HAVE?
Ich    +     habe ein Fahrrad.
Anna   +     hat einen Hund.
Wir    +     haben eine Wohnung.

haben is the finite verb and part of the grammatical core of the sentence.

3.Forms of haben in the present tense

The present-tense forms:

Overview of the paradigm:

ich      habe
du       hast        ← special short form
er/sie/es hat        ← special short form
wir      haben
ihr      habt
sie/Sie  haben

It is especially important not to confuse hast, hat and habt.

4.Why du hast and er hat need special attention

With a regular verb, a beginner often expects a pattern such as:

stem + ending

But the du and er / sie / es forms of haben are shortened:

The forms wir haben and sie haben look exactly like the infinitive, while ihr habt keeps the stem hab-.

At A1, the most practical approach is to learn the small haben paradigm as one complete set.

5.haben with objects and things

One of the most frequent patterns:

jemand hat etwas
someone has something

Examples:

The part after haben often names the thing that someone has. Later, in the section on cases, this object is normally in the accusative (Akkusativ). For now, recognizing the general pattern is enough.

6.haben with family and relationships

haben is often used when talking about family members or close relationships.

This is not necessarily literal “ownership”. haben simply expresses a relationship: a person has a brother, children or friends.

7.haben with time, appointments and plans

Very common A1 combinations include:

Zeit haben
Pause haben
einen Termin haben
Unterricht haben

Examples:

In these sentences, haben often means that someone has time or has a scheduled event or activity.

8.Important expressions: Hunger haben, Durst haben, Angst haben

German uses haben in several common expressions for states and needs.

These are standard German patterns and are best not translated word for word:

Hunger haben → to be hungry
Durst haben  → to be thirsty
Angst haben  → to be afraid / to feel fear

These combinations are learned as complete units: Hunger haben, not as two unrelated words.

9.haben and sein: two different basic patterns

haben and sein are both very frequent, but they do different jobs.

Compare:

Ich habe Hunger.   → noun Hunger + haben
Ich bin hungrig.   → adjective hungrig + sein

Both sentences are correct, but they follow different grammatical patterns.

10.German does not use haben for age

This is an important contrast with some other languages.

German says:

Ich bin zwanzig Jahre alt.

Incorrect: Ich habe zwanzig Jahre.. Correct: Ich bin zwanzig Jahre alt..

Age uses sein + ... Jahre alt.

age → sein
possession / availability → haben

11.Word order with haben

haben follows the same main-clause rules as other finite verbs.

Basic pattern:

Ich | habe | heute Zeit.

If a time expression is in the first position:

Heute habe ich Zeit.

The order Heute ich habe ... is not correct:

Incorrect: Heute ich habe Zeit.. Correct: Heute habe ich Zeit..

12.Questions with haben

In a yes/no question, the finite verb comes first.

Pattern:

HAST / HAT / HABT ... ?
verb + subject + rest

With a question word, the familiar W-question structure remains:

13.Negation with haben

When German negates the presence of a thing, kein is very common.

The forms kein / keine are explained later together with articles. For now, notice the basic meaning contrast:

Ich habe Zeit.       → I have time.
Ich habe keine Zeit. → I do not have time.

Other types of negation use nicht, but the choice between kein and nicht is a separate topic.

14.Typical mistakes

A regular ending instead of hast

Incorrect: Du habst Zeit.. Correct: Du hast Zeit..

The wrong form for er / sie / es

Incorrect: Sie habt einen Termin.. Correct: Sie hat einen Termin..

If Sie is the formal “you”, the form is different:

Sie haben einen Termin.

Confusing hat and habt

Er hat Zeit. → er

Ihr habt Zeit. → ihr

Using sein in the expression Hunger haben

Incorrect: Ich bin Hunger.. Correct: Ich habe Hunger..

Another correct option uses an adjective:

Ich bin hungrig.

Incorrect word order after a time expression

Incorrect: Morgen ich habe Unterricht.. Correct: Morgen habe ich Unterricht..

Expressing age with haben

Incorrect: Ich habe achtzehn Jahre.. Correct: Ich bin achtzehn Jahre alt..