Have vs. Have Been — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Published on January 24, 2024
Have is a verb used to express possession, experience, or the need to perform an action. Have been is a form of the present perfect tense, indicating a completed action or a state that started in the past and may continue into the present.
Difference Between Have and Have Been
Table of Contents
ADVERTISEMENT
Key Differences
Have functions as a main verb to denote possession or ownership, as in "I have a car." It also indicates experiences, such as "I have visited Paris." Have been, on the other hand, is used as an auxiliary verb in the present perfect tense, often to describe actions or experiences that started in the past and have relevance to the present, like "I have been to Paris." While "have" can stand alone as a main verb, "have been" always requires another verb to complete its meaning.
In its usage, have can also express necessity or obligation, as in "You have to see this movie." It serves various grammatical functions, including forming the perfect aspect of verbs. In contrast, have been specifically indicates an ongoing or completed state or action, such as in "I have been working here for five years." While "have" has multiple uses and meanings, "have been" is more focused on indicating duration or continuity of an action.
Have is versatile and is used in many idiomatic expressions, like "have a break" or "have a look." Its usage varies depending on the context, making it a fundamental part of English grammar. Conversely, have been is particularly used in sentences where the time of action is unspecified and the focus is on the action's occurrence or duration. It's often associated with life experiences or actions over time, as in "They have been married for ten years."
Have can be used in questions to inquire about possession, experience, or necessity, such as "Have you got a pen?" or "Have you ever been to Italy?" Have been is used in questions that relate to the duration or continuation of an action or state, like "Have you been waiting long?" The former is broader in its application, while the latter is more specific to the present perfect tense.
Comparison Chart
Function
Main verb for possession, experience
Auxiliary verb in present perfect tense
ADVERTISEMENT
Usage
Denotes possession, obligation
Indicates ongoing or past-to-present action
Grammatical Role
Used in various tenses
Specific to present perfect tense
Context
Broad, varies with context
Focused on duration/continuity
Example Sentences
"I have a car," "You have to try this"
"I have been studying," "We have been here"
Compare with Definitions
Have
Possession: Indicate ownership.
I have a book.
Have Been
Ongoing Action: Describe ongoing actions.
They have been working all day.
Have
Experience: Describe experiences.
I have seen that movie.
Have Been
Present Perfect: Form present perfect tense.
I have been to London.
Have
Necessity: Express obligation or need.
You have to do your homework.
Have Been
Unspecified Time: Refer to actions at an unspecified time.
Have you ever been to a concert?
Have
Idiomatic: Used in idiomatic expressions.
Let's have a chat.
Have Been
Life Experience: Express life experiences.
She has been a teacher since 1998.
Have
Consumption: Talk about eating or drinking.
I have breakfast at 8 AM.
Have Been
Past to Present: Link past action to present.
We have been friends for years.
Have
To be in possession of
Already had a car.
Have
To possess as a characteristic, quality, or function
Has a beard.
Had a great deal of energy.
Have
To possess or contain as a constituent part
A car that has air bags.
Have
To occupy a particular relation to
Had many disciples.
Have
To possess knowledge of or facility in
Has very little Spanish.
Have
To hold in the mind; entertain
Had doubts about their loyalty.
Have
To use or exhibit in action
Have compassion.
Have
To come into possession of; acquire
Not one copy of the book was to be had in the entire town.
Have
To receive; get
I had a letter from my cousin.
Have
To accept; take
I'll have the peas instead of the spinach.
Have
To suffer from
Have defective vision.
Have
To be subject to the experience of
Had a difficult time last winter.
Have
To cause to do something, as by persuasion or compulsion
Had my assistant run the errand.
Have
To cause to be in a specified place or state
Had the guests in the dining room.
Had everyone fascinated.
Have
To permit; allow
I won't have that kind of behavior in my house.
Have
To carry on, perform, or execute
Have an argument.
Have
To place at a disadvantage
Your opponent in the debate had you on every issue.
Have
(Informal) To get the better of, especially by trickery or deception
They realized too late that they'd been had by a swindler.
Have
(Informal) To influence by dishonest means; bribe
An incorruptible official who could not be had.
Have
To procreate (offspring)
Wanted to have a child.
Have
To give birth to; bear
She's going to have a baby.
Have
To partake of
Have lunch.
Have
To be obliged to; must
We simply have to get there on time.
Have
Used with a past participle to form the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect tenses indicating completed action
The troublemaker has gone for good. I regretted that I had lost my temper. They will have finished by the time we arrive.
Have
One enjoying especially material wealth
"The gulf widens between the feast of the haves and the famine of the have-nots" (Salman Rushdie).
Have
(transitive) To possess, own.
I have a house and a car.
Have
(transitive) To hold, as something at someone's disposal.
Look what I have here—a frog I found on the street!
Have
(transitive) To include as a part, ingredient, or feature.
The stove has a handle. The shirt has sleeves.
The words cow and dog have three letters.
A government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial.
The movie has lots of action.
Have
(transitive) Used to state the existence or presence of someone in a specified relationship with the subject.
I have two sisters.
She doesn’t have any friends.
I have a really mean boss.
Have
(transitive) To consume or use up (a particular substance or resource, especially food or drink).
I have breakfast at six o'clock.
You've already had five drinks!
She's had more than enough time already.
Have
(transitive) To undertake or perform (an action or activity).
Can I have a look at that?
He's having a tantrum about it.
I’m going to have a bath now.
Let’s have a game of tiddlywinks.
Have
(transitive) To be scheduled to attend, undertake or participate in.
What class do you have right now? I have English.
Fred won’t be able to come to the party; he has a meeting that day.
I have a lot of work to do.
Have
To experience, go through, undergo.
We had a hard year last year, with the locust swarms and all that.
He had surgery on his hip yesterday.
I’m having the time of my life!
Have
To be afflicted with, suffer from.
He had a cold last week.
Have
(auxiliary verb, taking a past participle) Used in forming the perfect aspect.
I have already eaten today.
I had already eaten.
I will have left by the time you get here.
Have
Used as an interrogative verb before a pronoun to form a tag question, echoing a previous use of 'have' as an auxiliary verb or, in certain cases, main verb. (For further discussion, see the appendix English tag questions.)
They haven’t eaten dinner yet, have they?
Your wife hasn’t been reading that nonsense, has she?
He has some money, hasn’t he?
Have
See have to.
I have to go.
Have
(transitive) To give birth to.
The couple always wanted to have children.
My wife is having the baby right now!
My mother had me when she was 25.
Have
(usually passive) To obtain.
The substance you describe can't be had at any price.
Have
(transitive) To accept as a romantic partner.
Despite my protestations of love, she would not have me.
Have
To cause to, by a command, request or invitation.
They had me feed their dog while they were out of town.
Her very boyfriend is the person the criminal has do most of her dirty deeds.
Have
To cause to be.
He had him arrested for trespassing.
The lecture’s ending had the entire audience in tears.
Jim has his eyes closed.
Have
To be affected by an occurrence. (Used in supplying a topic that is not a verb argument.)
The hospital had several patients contract pneumonia last week.
I’ve had three people today tell me my hair looks nice.
Have
To depict as being.
Their stories differed; he said he’d been at work when the incident occurred, but her statement had him at home that entire evening.
Have
To defeat in a fight; take.
I could have him!
Have
To inflict punishment or retribution on.
You broke the window! Teacher’ll have you for that!
Have
To be able to speak (a language).
I have no German.
Have
To feel or be (especially painfully) aware of.
Dan certainly has arms today, probably from scraping paint off four columns the day before.
Have
To trick, to deceive.
I bought a laptop online but it never arrived. I think I've been had!
You had me alright! I never would have thought that was just a joke.
Have
To allow; to tolerate.
The child screamed incessantly for his mother to buy him a toy, but she wasn't having any of it.
I asked my dad if I could go to the concert this Thursday, but he wouldn't have it since it's a school night.
Have
To believe, buy, be taken in by.
I made up an excuse as to why I was out so late, but my wife wasn't having any of it.
Have
(transitive) To host someone; to take in as a guest.
Thank you for having me!
Have
(transitive) To get a reading, measurement, or result from an instrument or calculation.
What do you have for problem two?
I have two contacts on my scope.
Have
To consider a court proceeding that has been completed; to begin deliberations on a case.
We’ll schedule closing arguments for Thursday, and the jury will have the case by that afternoon.
Have
To make an observation of (a bird species).
Have
A wealthy or privileged person.
Have
(uncommon) One who has some (contextually specified) thing.
Have
A fraud or deception; something misleading.
They advertise it as a great deal, but I think it's a bit of a have.
Have
To hold in possession or control; to own; as, he has a farm.
Have
To possess, as something which appertains to, is connected with, or affects, one.
The earth hath bubbles, as the water has.
He had a fever late.
Have
To accept possession of; to take or accept.
Break thy mind to me in broken English; wilt thou have me?
Have
To get possession of; to obtain; to get.
Have
To cause or procure to be; to effect; to exact; to desire; to require.
I had the church accurately described to me.
Wouldst thou have me turn traitor also?
Have
To bear, as young; as, she has just had a child.
Have
To hold, regard, or esteem.
Of them shall I be had in honor.
Have
To cause or force to go; to take.
Have
To take or hold (one's self); to proceed promptly; - used reflexively, often with ellipsis of the pronoun; as, to have after one; to have at one or at a thing, i. e., to aim at one or at a thing; to attack; to have with a companion.
Have
To be under necessity or obligation; to be compelled; followed by an infinitive.
Science has, and will long have, to be a divider and a separatist.
The laws of philology have to be established by external comparison and induction.
Have
To understand.
You have me, have you not?
Have
To put in an awkward position; to have the advantage of; as, that is where he had him.
Myself for such a face had boldly died.
Have
A person who possesses great material wealth
Have
Have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense;
She has $1,000 in the bank
He has got two beautiful daughters
She holds a Master's degree from Harvard
Have
Have as a feature;
This restaurant features the most famous chefs in France
Have
Of mental or physical states or experiences;
Get an idea
Experience vertigo
Get nauseous
Undergo a strange sensation
The chemical undergoes a sudden change
The fluid undergoes shear
Receive injuries
Have a feeling
Have
Have ownership or possession of;
He owns three houses in Florida
How many cars does she have?
Have
Cause to move; cause to be in a certain position or condition;
He got his squad on the ball
This let me in for a big surprise
He got a girl into trouble
Have
Serve oneself to, or consume regularly;
Have another bowl of chicken soup!
I don't take sugar in my coffee
Have
Have a personal or business relationship with someone;
Have a postdoc
Have an assistant
Have a lover
Have
Organize or be responsible for;
Hold a reception
Have, throw, or make a party
Give a course
Have
Have left;
I have two years left
I don't have any money left
They have two more years before they retire
Have
Be confronted with;
What do we have here?
Now we have a fine mess
Have
Undergo;
The stocks had a fast run-up
Have
Suffer from; be ill with;
She has arthritis
Have
Cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner;
The ads induced me to buy a VCR
My children finally got me to buy a computer
My wife made me buy a new sofa
Have
Receive willingly something given or offered;
The only girl who would have him was the miller's daughter
I won't have this dog in my house!
Please accept my present
Have
Get something; come into possession of;
Receive payment
Receive a gift
Receive letters from the front
Have
Undergo (as of injuries and illnesses);
She suffered a fracture in the accident
He had an insulin shock after eating three candy bars
She got a bruise on her leg
He got his arm broken in the scuffle
Have
Achieve a point or goal;
Nicklaus had a 70
The Brazilian team got 4 goals
She made 29 points that day
Have
Give birth (to a newborn);
My wife had twins yesterday!
Common Curiosities
What does 'have' mean?
'Have' can mean to possess something, to experience, or to need to do something.
Is 'have been' always followed by another verb?
Yes, it's an auxiliary verb and requires another verb, like "I have been running."
What is 'have been' used for?
'Have been' is used in the present perfect tense to describe actions or states continuing from the past to the present.
Does 'have been' imply the action is still ongoing?
It can imply ongoing action or a state relevant to the present.
Is 'have' used in questions?
Yes, for example, "Have you got a moment?"
Can 'have been' be used with specific time references?
Generally no, it's used when the time is not specified.
How do you use 'have been' in a sentence?
Example: "I have been studying all afternoon."
What is the negative form of 'have been'?
"Have not been" or "haven't been," as in "I haven't been there."
How do you use 'have' in a sentence?
Example: "I have two brothers."
Can 'have' be used on its own?
Yes, 'have' can be a main verb, as in "I have a car."
Is 'have' used in idioms?
Yes, it's common in idioms like "have a good time."
Can 'have' indicate a past action?
Yes, when used with past participles in perfect tenses, like "I have eaten."
Are 'have' and 'have been' interchangeable?
No, their usage depends on the context and the intended meaning.
Can 'have been' be used in questions?
Yes, like "Have you been to the new cafe?"
What is the negative form of 'have'?
"Have not" or "haven't," as in "I haven't finished yet."
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Fullmetal Alchemist vs. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Next Comparison
Nike Air Max vs. Nike Air ForceAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
