Haben is the German verb for to have — right alongside the verb "sein", it's one of the first two verbs every beginner needs, because it shows up constantly: talking about what you own, who's in your family, and a handful of everyday expressions that use haben where English uses something else entirely. It's irregular, so a couple of its forms don't follow the usual pattern.

Quick shortcut: ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie/Sie haben.

Conjugating haben

Pronoun Form Example
ich habe Ich habe einen Hund. (I have a dog.)
du hast Du hast viel Zeit. (You have a lot of time.)
er/sie/es hat Sie hat zwei Kinder. (She has two children.)
wir haben Wir haben eine Wohnung. (We have an apartment.)
ihr habt Ihr habt Glück. (You [plural] are lucky.)
sie/Sie haben Sie haben ein Auto. (They have a car. / You [formal] have a car.)

Notice that Ich habe einen Hund uses einen, not ein — the thing you have is the object of the sentence, which needs its own article form (the accusative case, a separate topic you'll meet soon).

Most forms just add the usual personal ending to the stem hab-: ich habe, wir haben, ihr habt, sie/Sie haben. The forms to pay attention to are du hast and er/sie/es hat, which both drop the b: ✅ du hast, never ❌ du habst; ✅ er hat, never ❌ er habt (easy to confuse with ihr habt, which does keep the b).

What haben is used for

Haben connects a subject to something it possesses, has, or is affected by:

  • Possessions: Ich habe ein Fahrrad. (I have a bicycle.)
  • Family and relationships: Wir haben drei Kinder. (We have three children.)
  • Feelings and physical states, in set expressions: Ich habe Hunger. (I'm hungry — literally "I have hunger.") Sie hat Angst. (She's afraid — literally "She has fear.")
  • Time: Hast du Zeit? (Do you have time?)

One place haben is not used, even though several other languages do use "to have" here: age. German expresses age with sein, not haben — ✅ Ich bin 20 Jahre alt (I am 20 years old), never ❌ Ich habe 20 Jahre.

Fixed expressions with haben

Some everyday expressions use haben + a noun in German. In several of them — Hunger, Durst, Angst — English uses to be + an adjective instead, so these are worth learning as whole chunks rather than translating word for word:

German Literally English
Hunger haben to have hunger to be hungry
Durst haben to have thirst to be thirsty
Angst haben to have fear to be afraid
Recht haben to have right to be right
Zeit haben to have time to have time

Recht haben and Zeit haben aren't feelings, but they follow the same haben + noun pattern, so it's convenient to learn them alongside the others.

  • ✅ Ich bin hungrig is also correct, but Ich habe Hunger is the more common everyday way to say it.
  • ✅ Er hat Angst vor Hunden. (He's afraid of dogs.) Not: ❌ Er ist Angst.

Negation: kein

To say you don't have a/an/any of something, German uses kein directly before the noun — a separate topic, but worth a first mention here since it pairs so often with haben:

  • Ich habe kein Auto. (I don't have a car.)
  • Wir haben keine Zeit. (We don't have time.)

With a specific, already-mentioned thing, or with a pronoun, use nicht instead: Ich habe das Auto nicht. (I don't have the car.) Ich habe es nicht. (I don't have it.)

Word order

In simple main-clause statements, the conjugated verb — here, a form of haben — goes in second position: the sentence can open with something other than the subject, and the verb still follows directly after it:

  • Ich habe heute Zeit. (subject first)
  • Heute habe ich Zeit. (time expression first — the verb stays second, ich moves after it)

In yes/no questions, haben moves to the very front: Hast du Zeit? (Do you have time?) Habt ihr einen Hund? (Do you all have a dog?)

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Du habst viel Zeit. → ✅ Du hast viel Zeit. (the b drops out with du)
  • ❌ Er habt zwei Kinder. → ✅ Er hat zwei Kinder. (the b drops out with er/sie/es too — different from ihr habt)
  • ❌ Ich bin Hunger. → ✅ Ich habe Hunger. (in these fixed noun expressions, use haben, not sein)
  • ❌ Ich habe ein Hund. → ✅ Ich habe einen Hund. (the thing you have needs the accusative article form)
  • To mean "we don't have a car," say ✅ Wir haben kein Auto. — ❌ Wir haben nicht ein Auto isn't the normal way to say it.

Quick check

Which form is correct?

  1. Ich ____ (habe / hast) einen Bruder.
  2. Du ____ (habt / hast) ein Auto.
  3. Er ____ (habt / hat) keine Zeit.
  4. Wir ____ (haben / habt) zwei Katzen.
  5. Ich ____ (bin / habe) Hunger.
Show answers
  1. habe   2. hast   3. hat   4. haben   5. habe

Key takeaways

  • Haben is irregular: ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie/Sie haben — note the dropped b in hast and hat.
  • It's used for possessions, family, and time, plus a set of fixed noun expressions worth memorizing — Hunger haben, Durst haben, Angst haben — where English uses to be + an adjective instead.
  • To negate having a/an/any of something, use kein right before the noun; use nicht with a specific, already-mentioned thing or a pronoun.
  • In simple main-clause statements, haben stays in second position, and moves to the front in yes/no questions.