Have - Has - Go - Goes

Simple Present Tense

Conjugation of Have and Go

To Have = To show possession / a quality

To Go = to show movement (travel) in a specific direction

Usually we only add 'S' to a verb when we conjugate it in the third person but notice how To Have and To Go are slightly irregular (though they still both end in S).

Have and Go in Negative Sentences

To make a negative sentence in English with To Have and To Go we use Don't or Doesn't followed by Have or Go (never Has or Goes).

Affirmative: You have a pen.
Negative: You don't have a pen.

You will see that we add don't between the subject and the verb. We use Don't when the subject is I, you, we or they.

Affirmative: He has a pencil.
Negative: He doesn't have a pencil.

When the subject is he, she or it, we add doesn't between the subject and the verb to make a negative sentence. Notice that we don't use the normal third person conjugation (has, goes) in negative sentences. We use the base form of the infinitive as seen below.

Word Order of Negative Sentences

The following is the word order to construct a basic negative sentence in English in the Present Tense using Don't or Doesn't.

* Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.

Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.

Examples of Negative Sentences with Have:

• You don't have a clue.
• John doesn't have many friends.
• We don't have time for a rest.
• It doesn't have four wheels.
• They don't have the correct answers.
• She doesn't have a nice dress.

Examples of Negative Sentences with Go:

• You don't go to university.
• John doesn't go to parties.
• We don't go to work on the weekend.
• It doesn't go fast.
• They don't go to the beach.
• She doesn't go to church.

Questions with Have and Go

To make a question in English with To Have and To Go, we normally use Do or Does at the beginning of the question.

Affirmative: You have a girlfriend.
Question: Do you have a girlfriend?

You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use Do when the subject is I, you, we or they.

Affirmative: She has a boyfriend.
Question: Does she have a boyfriend?

When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that we don't use the normal third person conjugation (has, goes) in questions. We use the base form of the infinitive as seen below.

Word Order of Questions with Do and Does

The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using Do or Does.

*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.

Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.

Examples of Questions with Have and Go:

• Do you have a dictionary?
• Does Mary have a dictionary?
• Do we go to all the meetings?
• Does she go to all the meetings?

Short Answers with Have and Go

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

However, if a question word such as who, when, where, why, which or how is used in the question, you can not use the short answers above to respond to the question.

Next activities

To Practice these rules try our interactive game at: Have - Has - Go - Goes

NEW: Download our free Have Has Go Goes Worksheet (in PDF).
You can check the answers to this worksheet here: Have Has Go Goes Answers.

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