haben

German

Alternative forms

• ham (in informal writing)
• han (archaic, dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle High German haben, from Old High German habēn (akin to Old Saxon hebbian, Old Norse hafa (Swedish hava/ha), Old Frisian habba, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban), Old English habban), from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to grasp”). Cognates include Bavarian håbn, Yiddish האָבן (hobn), Dutch hebben, English have, Danish have.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaːbən/, , (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ham/ (common; particularly in the present tense, occasionally also in the infinitive)

Note: In Germany it is written in IPA:

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaːbən/, , ,

and is the same sound here.

• audio

  (file)

• audio

  (file)

• audio

  (file)

Verb

haben (irregular, third-person singular present hat, past tense hatte, past participle gehabt, past subjunctive hätte, auxiliary haben)

1. (auxiliary, with a past participle) to have (forms the perfect aspect)

   Das habe ich nicht gesagt. ― I haven't said that.

2. (transitive) to have; to own (to possess, have ownership of; to possess a certain characteristic)
3. (transitive) to have; to hold (to contain within itself/oneself)

   Glaub und hab keine Angst.

   Believe and don't be afraid or Believe and have no fear.

4. (transitive) to have, get (to obtain, acquire)
5. (transitive) to get (to receive)
6. (transitive) to have (to be scheduled to attend)
7. (transitive) to have (to be afflicted with, suffer from)
8. (transitive, of units of measure) to contain, be composed of, equal

   Ein Meter hat 100 Zentimeter.

   There are 100 centimetres in one metre.

   (literally, “One metre has 100 centimetres.”)

9. (impersonal, dialectal, with es) there be, there is, there are

   Es hat zwei Bücher.

   There are two books.

10. (reflexive, colloquial) to make a fuss

    Hab dich nicht so!

    Don't make such a fuss!

11. (colloquial, with es and mit) to be occupied with, to like, to be into

    Ich hab's nich so mit Hunden.

    I'm not a great fan of dogs.

    (literally, “I don't have it that much with dogs.”)

12. (regional, colloquial, with es and von or über) to talk about

    Wir hatten's grad von dir und deiner Freundin.

    We've just been talking about you and your girlfriend.

    (literally, “We just had it about you and your girlfriend.”)

13. (with zu + infinitive) to have (to do); must (do)

    Er hat sich zu benehmen.

    He has to behave himself.

Conjugation

Colloquially, hab (also written hab') is often used as the first person singular of the present indicative, instead of habe.

Derived terms

Further reading

• “haben” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “haben” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “haben” in Duden online
• “haben” in OpenThesaurus.de

Middle English

Verb

haben

1. Alternative form of haven (“to have”)

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną, whence also Old Saxon hebbian, Old English habban, Old Norse hafa, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to grasp”), whence also Latin capiō.

Verb

habēn

1. to have

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle High German: haben, hān
  • Alemannic German: haa, ha, heen, hoh, hä, häbä, hè

    Swabian: hau

  • Bavarian: hoom, hobm, hobn, hom, ho, hob

    Cimbrian: haban, hen, håm

    Mòcheno: hom

    Northern Bavarian:

  • Central Franconian: hann

    Hunsrik: hon

    Kölsch: han

    Luxembourgish: hunn

  • East Central German:

    Erzgebirgisch: hamm

    Upper Saxon German: ham, hom

    Vilamovian: hon

  • East Franconian:
  • German: haben

    Berlinerisch: ham

    Ruhrpöttisch: habn

  • Rhine Franconian:

    Frankfurterisch: ; , (older)

    Palatine German: hann, hawwe, hunn

    Pennsylvania German: hawwe

    Upper Hessian: hu, hunn

  • Yiddish: האָבן (hobn)