Expressions with haben | German Grammar

The single most useful insight about haben idioms is also the one that causes the most errors: German expresses many physical and emotional states with haben + a bare noun where English uses be + an adjective. "I am hungry" is, literally, "I have hunger" — Ich habe Hunger. Once you see that this is a system, not a list of exceptions, dozens of expressions fall into place at once. This page collects the core haben states and shows exactly where the English "be" instinct misfires.

The have-for-be pattern

English treats a state like hunger as something you are: "I am hungry." German treats it as something you possess: "I have hunger." The logic is that the sensation is a thing inside you — a quantity you hold — so the verb is haben and the state is a noun, not an adjective. Crucially the noun is bare: no article, just Hunger, Durst, Angst.

Ich habe Hunger — gibt es noch etwas zu essen?

I'm hungry — is there anything left to eat?

Hast du Durst? Ich hole uns etwas zu trinken.

Are you thirsty? I'll get us something to drink.

Die Kinder haben Angst vor dem Gewitter.

The children are afraid of the thunderstorm.

Note that Angst haben takes its object with vor + dative (Angst vor dem Hund). The whole frame — vor plus dative — must be learned with the idiom.

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An adjective version sometimes exists (Ich bin hungrig, Ich bin durstig) and is grammatically correct — but the haben + noun version is far more idiomatic in everyday speech. For Recht, there is no adjective option at all: Ich bin Recht is simply wrong. When in doubt, reach for haben + noun.

States, feelings, and fortunes

The pattern stretches well beyond hunger. Here is the core inventory, the words you will use daily:

German	Literal	English
Hunger / Durst haben	have hunger/thirst	be hungry / thirsty
Angst haben (vor + dat)	have fear	be afraid (of)
Zeit haben	have time	have time / be free
Lust haben (auf / zu)	have desire	feel like
Recht haben	have right	be right
Glück / Pech haben	have luck/bad-luck	be lucky / unlucky
Geduld haben	have patience	be patient
Eile haben / es eilig haben	have haste	be in a hurry
Stress haben	have stress	be stressed

Hast du heute Abend Zeit? Ich hätte Lust auf einen Film.

Do you have time this evening? I feel like (watching) a film.

Du hast völlig recht, das habe ich übersehen.

You're completely right, I overlooked that.

Wir hatten großes Glück mit dem Wetter im Urlaub.

We were very lucky with the weather on holiday.

Hab Geduld — der Bus kommt gleich.

Be patient — the bus is coming any minute.

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Since the 1996 spelling reform, recht haben / unrecht haben are written lowercase (treated adverbially): Du hast recht. The capitalised noun spelling Recht haben is still permitted by Duden, so do not mark it wrong — but lowercase is now standard.

Ailments: how German "has" symptoms

Bodily symptoms follow the same logic — you have them, usually with a bare noun or -schmerzen compound:

Ich kann nicht kommen, ich habe Kopfschmerzen und etwas Fieber.

I can't come, I have a headache and a bit of a fever.

Sie hat seit gestern Husten und Schnupfen.

She's had a cough and a cold since yesterday.

The family: Kopfschmerzen / Bauchschmerzen / Halsschmerzen haben (headache / stomach-ache / sore throat), Fieber haben (have a fever), Husten haben (have a cough), Schnupfen haben (have a cold/runny nose).

Time, occasions, and dispositions

A second cluster uses haben for scheduling and attitude:

Geburtstag haben — "have one's birthday" (Ich habe morgen Geburtstag = "it's my birthday tomorrow").
frei haben — to have time off (Am Freitag habe ich frei).
zu tun haben — to have things to do, be busy.
etwas / nichts gegen jdn haben — to have something / nothing against someone.
etwas im Sinn / im Kopf haben — to have something in mind / on one's mind.

Morgen habe ich Geburtstag, kommst du vorbei?

It's my birthday tomorrow, will you come round?

Ich habe nichts gegen ihn, aber heute habe ich einfach viel zu tun.

I have nothing against him, I just have a lot to do today.

Informal and idiomatic haben

Two everyday phrases worth knowing:

Bock haben (informal, originally slang) — "to feel like / be up for," a casual synonym of Lust haben:

Hast du Bock, heute Abend ins Kino zu gehen?

Do you feel like going to the cinema tonight?

Das hat Zeit — "that can wait, there's no rush" (literally "that has time"):

Lass die Mails liegen, das hat Zeit bis Montag.

Leave the emails, that can wait until Monday.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ich bin Hunger.

Wrong — the classic 'be' transfer; states use haben + noun.

✅ Ich habe Hunger.

I'm hungry.

❌ Ich bin Recht.

Wrong — 'be right' is haben + recht; no adjective form exists.

✅ Ich habe recht.

I'm right.

❌ Ich habe Angst von dem Hund.

Wrong preposition — Angst takes vor + dative, not von.

✅ Ich habe Angst vor dem Hund.

I'm afraid of the dog.

❌ Ich habe einen Hunger. (as a neutral statement)

Wrong here — the state noun is normally bare, no article.

✅ Ich habe Hunger.

I'm hungry.

❌ Ich bin eilig.

Wrong — 'be in a hurry' is the fixed idiom es eilig haben.

✅ Ich habe es eilig.

I'm in a hurry.

Key Takeaways

German systematically uses haben + bare noun for states English builds with be + adjective: Ich habe Hunger = "I'm hungry."
The state noun is usually bare (no article) and capitalised: Durst, Angst, Glück, Recht.
Learn each idiom's grammar with it: Angst takes vor + dative; recht is now lowercase.
The same logic covers ailments (Kopfschmerzen / Fieber haben) and scheduling (Geburtstag / frei haben).
Reaching for sein here is the single most reliable English-speaker error — when describing a state, try haben first.

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