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> have A verb that has several functions. A major use is its part in forming the "perfect tense" and "past perfect tense", or "pluperfect tense", of other verb tenses. It does this in conjunction with the "past participle" of the verb in question.• The perfect tense of a verb is formed by the present tense of the verb have and the past participle of the verb. Examples include "We have acted wisely", "They have beaten the opposition", "The police have caught the thieves", "The old man has died", "The child has eaten all the food", "The baby has fallen downstairs", "They have grabbed all the bargains", "You have hated him for years" and "He has indicated that he is going to retire". The past perfect or pluperfect is formed by the past tense of the verb have and the past participle of the verb in question, as in "He had jumped over the fence", "They had kicked in the door", "The boy had led the other children to safety", "His mother had made the cake", "The headmaster had punished the pupils" and "They had rushed into buying a new house". Both perfect tenses and past perfect or pluperfect tenses are often contracted in speech or in informal written English, as in "We've had enough for today", "You've damaged the suitcase", "You've missed the bus", "He's lost his wallet", "She's arrived too late", "They'd left before the news came through", "She'd married without telling her parents", "He'd packed the goods himself" and "You'd locked the door without realizing it".• Have is often used in the phrase have to in the sense that something must be done. In the present tense have to can be used instead of "must", as in "You have to leave now", "We have to clear this mess up", "He has to get the next train" and "The goods have to be sold today". If the "something that must be done" refers to the future the verb will have to is used", as in "He will have to leave now to get there on time", "The old man will have to go to hospital" and "They'll have to move out of the house when her parents return". If the "something that must be done" refers to the past, had to is used, as in "We had to take the injured man to hospital", "They had to endure freezing conditions on the mountain", "They'd to take a reduction in salary" and "We'd to wait all day for the workman to appear".• Have is also used in the sense of "possess" or "own", as in "He has a swimming pool behind his house ", "She has a huge wardrobe", "We have enough food" and "They have four cars". In spoken or in informal English "have got" is often used, as in "They've got the largest house in the street", "We've got problems now", "They haven't got time". This use should be avoided in formal English.• Have is also used to indicate suffering from an illness or disease, as in "The child has measles", "Her father has flu" and "She has heart disease". Have can also indicate that an activity is taking place, as in "She's having a shower", "We're having a party", "She is having a baby" and "They are having a dinner party". Pour éviter fautes de grammaire, contresens et confusions. The English Usage Dictionary est le parfait complément des dictionnaires bilingues, du dictionnaire de définitions anglaises et du Thesaurus. Ce dictionnaire signale toutes les difficultés que recèle l'usage d'un mot: orthographe, grammaire, prononciation, homonymies, etc. Exemple d'article du dictionnaire English Usage Dictionary