The verb "haben" (to have)
To express possession in German, use the verb haben (to have). Here are its singular forms:
| Pronoun | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe | I have |
| du | hast | you have (informal) |
| er/sie/es | hat | he/she/it has |
| Sie | haben | you have (formal) |
Notice that du hast and er/sie/es hat drop the "b" from the stem.
| I have a car. | Ich habe ein Auto. |
Asking questions with "haben"
Form a yes/no question by moving the conjugated verb to the beginning of the sentence.
| Do you have a car? | Hast du ein Auto? |
| Do you have a question? | Haben Sie eine Frage? |
Expressing "not any" with "kein"
To say you don't have something, German uses kein (no / not any). You can connect contrasting ideas using the conjunction aber (but).
| Yes, I have a car, but no money. | Ja, ich habe ein Auto, aber kein Geld. |
| He has money, but he is not buying a house. | Er hat Geld, aber er kauft kein Haus. |
Just like with ein and eine, the ending of kein matches the noun's grammatical gender. Use kein for neuter nouns (like das Auto or das Geld), and keine for feminine nouns (like die Zeit or die Frage).
| I work very often and have no time. | Ich arbeite sehr oft und habe keine Zeit. |
Third-person possession
When talking about a person or a thing (he, she, it, or a specific noun like "the woman"), use the form hat.
| The woman has an idea. | Die Frau hat eine Idee. |
| The child is learning now and has an idea. | Das Kind lernt jetzt und hat eine Idee. |
To "have" luck
In English, you say someone is lucky. In German, you say they have luck (Glück haben).
| You are lucky! | Du hast Glück! |
| He plays very well and is often lucky. | Er spielt sehr gut und hat oft Glück. |
