Real Grammar - Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber 2009

Meanings of Have + Noun Phrase
Unit 5 Did you have fun today?

What have you learned from your grammar textbook?

Have is an irregular verb (have - has - had - had). It can be used both as an auxiliary verb and as a main verb. The literal meaning of have when it is a main verb is “to own or possess something”:

A: What kind of car does he have?

B: He has a jeep.

What does the corpus show?

A

Have is an extremely common verb in both conversation and writing because it has many different meanings and uses. Have + noun phrase is a common structure. But its literal meaning “to own or possess something” is rare.

• I need to make sure I have enough money in my account.

B

In conversation, several nouns are especially common with have. These combinations express the following idiomatic meanings:

C

In writing, a different set of nouns are common with have. Most of these nouns occur with a specific preposition and have special meanings.

Other common nouns in writing are followed by a to-clause. The pattern is: have + noun + to-clause.

• Some people have a tendency to rationalize and justify their decisions.

• Kotler had the opportunity to quit smoking but chose to continue his habit.

Activities

1 Notice in context: Read the conversation and the sentences from academic writing. Circle each instance of the main verb have and underline the noun phrase that follows. If a preposition follows the noun, draw a square around it.

1. Conversation: About a friend who had a baby.

Barbara: Have you talked to Angie lately?

Jennifer: We need to talk but she hasn’t had time. And, um, anyway, I didn’t know Angie had a baby. See, goes to show how much I know.*

Barbara: You didn’t know about that already? I had no idea that you didn’t know that!

2. Academic writing: About an education course.

a. When it is actualized through classroom activity, it can have an effect on learning.

b. Quasi-experiments have the advantage of being practical when conditions prevent true experimentation.

c. As participants in the learning/teaching operation, pupils have a role in the evaluation process, working together to monitor the effects of classroom activity.

* goes to show how much I know is an idiom that means “That shows that I don’t know very much.”

2 Practice conversation: Read the conversation. Change each boldfaced phrase to a have + noun phrase to make the conversation sound more natural. Write this new expression on the line next to the phrase. Then practice the new conversation with two partners.

Brian and Robert are inviting Doug to go on a hike to a mountain resort.

Brian: Yeah, you know, we go and eat a meal up there.

have lunch

It’s kind of a—not a hard hike, but it takes about half an hour.

Doug: Let’s see. I don’t know if I will be free to go.

Robert: Yeah. We haven’t gone in awhile because it’s so hot up in the mountains. Have you ever been able to do it?

Doug: No, but I want to ask something. What would you say the temperature is up there?

Robert: Oh, by our house it’s about seventy. If you want to come, come. If you don’t, we won’t feel upset about that.

Doug: Good. Well, I just want to enjoy myself.

Brian: That’s good.

3 Practice writing: Describe your own experience as a language learner, use have + noun phrase to write six statements.

Example

Students should have the opportunity to practice new words.

Playing football has little influence on learning a language.

1. ...

2. ...

3. ...

4. ...

5. ...

6. ...