Study materials
Two sentences that mean the same thing, and both are correct.
I've got a car.
I have a car.
The first is heard more often in British English and in conversation. The trouble starts not here but in the question: these two structures build it differently.
Have got and has got
The form follows the subject (the doer) as it does everywhere. He, she and it take has; everyone else takes have.
| Subject | Positive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| I, you, we, they | have got | haven't got | Have ... got? |
| he, she, it | has got | hasn't got | Has ... got? |
In speech the structure is contracted: I've got, we've got, he's got. And there is the trap. He's got is he has got, not he is.
What it talks about
The structure describes what you have right now. That can be things, people, features or how you feel.
I've got two sisters.
She's got blue eyes.
The house has got a garden.
He's got a headache.
Negatives and questions without do
Here have acts as a helper, so it manages on its own. There is no need to call in do.
I haven't got a bike.
Have you got a passport?
Has Tom got a phone?
In the short answer the word got is not repeated: Yes, I have. No, she hasn't.
Have got or have
In a positive sentence there is no difference in meaning; take whichever you like. But their questions and negatives differ, and that is exactly where the two must not be mixed.
Have you got a car?
Do you have a car?
And one more limit. Have got speaks only about possession or a state. A regular action needs plain have with no got.
I have breakfast at eight.
The mistakes everyone makes
The first is taking have for he, she or it.
He have got a dog. → He has got a dog.
The second is mixing the two structures in one question.
Do you have got a car? → Have you got a car?
The third is repeating got in the short answer.
Yes, I have got. → Yes, I have.
All three are caught by one question. Is the word got in the sentence? If it is, have is the helper and do is no longer needed.
Try it right now
Say three sentences in English about what you have: one object, one member of your family, and one feature of your appearance.
Then ask someone the same question in both ways: with Have you got and with Do you have.