ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: Using "have" and "has" in a question

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:33:47 GMT

have

Re: Using "have" and "has" in a question

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:52:16 GMT

which is correct for example...

1. has she mentioned something to you?

2. have she mentioned something to you?

Re: Using "have" and "has" in a question

CalifJim — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:58:42 GMT

had is the past tense. It is used for all persons, both singular and plural.

have is the present tense. It is used for all persons, both singular and plural EXCEPT third person singular.
has is the present tense for third person singular.

          Who ...? He ... She ... It ... | I ...You ...We ...They ...

Present                       has                               have
Past                           had                               had

So has is only singular, but have and had may be found with some singular (I, you) and some plural (we, you, they) pronouns.

CJ

Re: Using "have" and "has" in a question

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:58:51 GMT

I understand the difference in use of HAD or HAVE, but not how to explain it. When is it singular and when is it plural?

Re: Using "have" and "has" in a question

Pemmican — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 18:31:45 GMT

Philip wrote:
Mister Micawber wrote:

Have you the ball?
Has she the ball? These are the standard in British English.

And the only remaining full verb (beside "to be") that resists the "do-paraphrasing".

American English gave up this structure and it's assumed that British English will follow some time.

Re: Using "have" and "has" in a question

Philip — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 15:42:59 GMT

Mister Micawber wrote:

When the operator do is used in a question, it is the verb that changes, not the main verb (have) or the pronoun referent:

Do you have the ball? (referring to you)
Does he have the ball? (referring to him)

Have is peculiar in that it does not always require the do-operator. Then it inflects as usual:

Have you the ball?
Has she the ball? These are the standard in British English.

Re: Using "have" and "has" in a question

Mister Micawber — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 13:17:32 GMT

When the operator do is used in a question, it is the verb that changes, not the main verb (have) or the pronoun referent:

Do you have the ball? (referring to you)
Does he have the ball? (referring to him)

Have is peculiar in that it does not always require the do-operator. Then it inflects as usual:

Have you the ball?
Has she the ball?

Using "have" and "has" in a question

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 01:55:33 GMT

I believe that in a statement, you would use "has" when referring to : he/she/it.

And, you would use "have" when referring to: you/I/they/we.

Eg. He has the ball. She has the ball. It has the ball in it's mouth.

You have the ball. I have the ball. They have the ball. We have the ball.

My question is who do you refer to when you use "has" and "have" when asking a question?

Eg. Do you have the ball? Do they have the ball? Does she have the ball?

Who has the ball?