Habeo: To Have | Latin Grammar

Habeō means “have,” “hold,” “possess,” “keep,” or “regard.” Its principal parts are habeō, habēre, habuī, habitum. It is a regular second-conjugation verb, but its constructions extend well beyond ownership.

The form identifies tense and voice; the object and predicate reveal the sense. Librum habeō is possession, eum amīcum habeō is judgment (“I regard him as a friend”), and portam clausam habeō describes a maintained state (“I keep the gate closed”).

Active Indicative and Subjunctive

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	habeō	habēs	habet	habēmus	habētis	habent
Imperfect	habēbam	habēbās	habēbat	habēbāmus	habēbātis	habēbant
Future	habēbō	habēbis	habēbit	habēbimus	habēbitis	habēbunt
Perfect	habuī	habuistī	habuit	habuimus	habuistis	habuērunt / habuēre
Pluperfect	habueram	habuerās	habuerat	habuerāmus	habuerātis	habuerant
Future perfect	habuerō	habueris	habuerit	habuerimus	habueritis	habuerint

Subjunctive tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	habeam	habeās	habeat	habeāmus	habeātis	habeant
Imperfect	habērem	habērēs	habēret	habērēmus	habērētis	habērent
Perfect	habuerim	habuerīs	habuerit	habuerīmus	habuerītis	habuerint
Pluperfect	habuissem	habuissēs	habuisset	habuissēmus	habuissētis	habuissent

Lūcia multōs librōs domī habet.

Lucia has many books at home.

Puer parvam aviculam in manibus habēbat.

The boy was holding a small bird in his hands.

Crās plūs temporis habēbimus.

Tomorrow we shall have more time.

Numquam tantam spem habuī.

I have never had such great hope.

Utinam satis pecūniae habeāmus!

If only we had enough money!

Passive Voice

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	habeor	habēris	habētur	habēmur	habēminī	habentur
Imperfect	habēbar	habēbāris	habēbātur	habēbāmur	habēbāminī	habēbantur
Future	habēbor	habēberis	habēbitur	habēbimur	habēbiminī	habēbuntur
Present subjunctive	habear	habeāris	habeātur	habeāmur	habeāminī	habeantur
Imperfect subjunctive	habērer	habērēris	habērētur	habērēmur	habērēminī	habērentur

Perfect passive uses habitus, -a, -um plus sum: habitus est, habita erat, habitī erunt; habitus sit, habita esset. Passive habētur often means “is considered/regarded,” not literally “is possessed.”

Mārcus ab omnibus vir honestus habētur.

Marcus is considered an honorable man by everyone.

Concilium herī in templō habitum est.

A council was held in the temple yesterday.

Commands and Non-Finite Forms

Present active imperatives are habē, habēte. The future active has habētō (second- or third-person singular), habētōte (second-person plural), and habentō (third-person plural). Passive commands are habēre, habēminī in the present and habētor (second- or third-person singular), habentor (third-person plural) in the future. The future and passive commands are (formal/archaic or contextually rare).

Patientiam habē et mē audī.

Have patience and listen to me.

Category	Active	Passive
Present infinitive	habēre	habērī
Perfect infinitive	habuisse	habitum esse
Future infinitive	habitūrum esse	habitum īrī
Participles	habēns; habitūrus	habitus; habendus
Gerund	habendī, habendō, habendum, habendō	—
Supines	habitum, habitū	—

Dīxit sē satis frūmentī habēre.

He said that he had enough grain.

Haec ratiō in memoriā habenda est.

This consideration must be kept in mind.

Possession and Alternatives

The ordinary active pattern is possessor subject + accusative possession: ego librum habeō. Latin also uses sum with a dative possessor: mihi liber est. The first presents the possessor as controlling or holding the item; the second presents the item as existing for the possessor. The difference is often subtle, and both can translate “I have a book.”

Mihi hortus est, sed frāter meus duās vīllās habet.

I have a garden, but my brother owns two villas.

See possession with sum and the dative for the contrast. Do not combine the frames as mihi librum habeō unless the dative has another clear function.

Object plus Predicate or Participle

With an object and a predicate, habeō can mean “regard/consider”: eum amīcum habeō. Both object and predicate are accusative. With a perfect passive participle, it can describe a result that the subject maintains.

Omnēs eum fidēlem amīcum habent.

Everyone regards him as a loyal friend.

Portās clausās habēmus quod nox appropinquat.

We keep the gates closed because night is approaching.

Classical portās clausās habēmus is primarily a state-result construction, not automatically equivalent to the later Romance-style perfect “we have closed the gates.” Context must show whether possession/control or completed action is prominent.

Tense, Duration, and Control

Possession is a state, so the imperfect often supplies background or duration: domum parvam habēbat “he owned/had a small house.” The perfect habuit can bound that state—“he had it for a period”—or report an experience. English “had” translates both, but the Latin viewpoint differs.

Dum in urbe habitābat, tabernam habēbat; posteā eam frātrī trādidit.

While he lived in the city, he owned a shop; afterward he handed it over to his brother.

Magnam potestātem habuit, sed eā sapienter ūsus est.

He held great power, but he used it wisely.

The object need not be a physical possession. Tempus, spem, potestātem, and cōnsilium can all stand as accusative objects, but their collocations have distinct meanings. Do not translate cōnsilium habeō mechanically as ownership when “I have a plan” or “I hold a consultation” fits the context.

Control also explains the participial construction. Portās clausās habeō says that I maintain the gates in a closed condition. If the sentence merely reports the completed act, portās clausī “I closed the gates” is clearer. Classical Latin has not yet turned habeō + perfect participle into the general perfect auxiliary found in later Romance languages.

Idioms

Expression	Meaning
ratiōnem habēre + genitive	take account of
spem habēre	have hope
ōrātiōnem habēre	deliver a speech
grātiam habēre + dative	feel gratitude toward
sē habēre	be situated/feel

Ut tē habēs post longum iter?

How are you feeling after the long journey?

Compounds

Common compounds preserve second-conjugation endings and form perfects in -hibuī: adhibeō, adhibēre, adhibuī, adhibitum “apply/employ”; cohibeō, cohibēre, cohibuī, cohibitum “restrain”; exhibeō, exhibēre, exhibuī, exhibitum “display, produce”; and prohibeō, prohibēre, prohibuī, prohibitum “keep off, prevent.” Dēbeō, dēbēre, dēbuī, dēbitum “owe, ought” is historically related but functions as an independent modal verb.

Custōdēs turbam ab iānuā prohibuērunt.

The guards kept the crowd away from the door.

Parsing Diagnostic

Identify habē- present, habu- perfect, or habit- supine. Then inspect whether the accusative is possessed, held, or judged through a second predicate. In the passive, test “is considered” before forcing a literal “is had.”

Common Mistakes

Inventing a perfect from the present stem

❌ Herī multum temporis habēvī.

Incorrect — the perfect stem is habu-.

✅ Herī multum temporis habuī.

Yesterday I had plenty of time.

Mixing active and dative possession

❌ Mihi librum habeō.

Incorrect for simple possession — this mixes two constructions.

✅ Librum habeō.

I have a book.

Giving a result predicate the nominative

❌ Eum amīcus habeō.

Incorrect — the predicate must agree with accusative eum.

✅ Eum amīcum habeō.

I regard him as a friend.

Reading every passive literally

❌ Mārcus sapiēns habētur, id est Mārcus possidētur.

Incorrect interpretation — here habētur means ‘is considered.’

✅ Mārcus sapiēns habētur.

Marcus is considered wise.

Key Takeaways

Habeō, habēre, habuī, habitum follows the second conjugation but has broad syntax.
Direct-object possession contrasts with sum plus a dative possessor.
Object + predicate means “regard as”; object + participle often describes a maintained state.
Passive habētur frequently means “is considered,” and habitum est can mean “was held.”
Compounds keep the conjugation but add specialized meanings.

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