have got
Owning something, and describing a body or a family — the structure that carries half of a young learner's speaking.
From age 4First words →
✏️ The pattern
- Saying it
- I have got / she has got
- Saying no
- I haven't got
- Asking
- Have you got…?
- Short answer
- Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.
🗣️ Sentences a child can say
Tap any sentence to hear it. Every one uses words from a topic pack you already have.
🩹 What you will actually hear
The three mistakes that come up in every class, and what is behind each one.
She have got a cat.She has got a cat.
He, she and it take has. This is the one form worth drilling.
I have got two eye.I have got two eyes.
More than one takes the -s. Body parts are where children first meet it.
Have you a dog?Have you got a dog?
Keep got in the question at this age; it is the pattern they will hear back.
🎯 How to teach it
- 1
Put a real object in their hands before the sentence. Ownership is easier to say when it is literally held.
- 2
Move from I to she only when I is automatic. Mixing both while both are new is where has/have confusion is born.
- 3
Body parts are the fastest win: two eyes, one nose, ten fingers. Countable, visible, and already on the child.
- 4
Play a guessing game with cards face down: “Have you got a…?” Trading and asking is the whole lesson.
🗂️ Topic packs that pair with this
Same structure, words your class already knows — no new vocabulary needed.
💬 Questions teachers ask
Have got or have — which do I teach?
Have got for young learners. It is what British course books use, it is what the Cambridge Starters papers expect, and the short answer (“Yes, I have.”) is easier for a child than the do-support have needs.
My pupils keep saying “she have”. What actually fixes it?
Not correction — frequency. Give them twenty she has sentences in a game before you ever give them a rule. The ear fixes it faster than the explanation does.