English says "I'm hungry," "I'm thirsty," "I'm scared," "I'm right." German says I have to all four. Haben doesn't just cover ownership — it takes over a whole set of sentences where English reaches for "to be," and those sentences come up constantly.
It also happens to be the polite way to ask for anything in a shop. Haben Sie…? opens more doors in Germany than any other three letters you'll learn this week.
haben in the Present
I have
ich habe
you have (informal)
du hast
he / she / it has
er / sie / es hat
we have
wir haben
you have (several people)
ihr habt
they have
sie haben
you have (polite)
Sie haben
Practice these words
ich habe
Quick notes:
- Only du hast and er hat are irregular — they drop the b. Everything else is built on hab-.
- Question form is the same trick as sein: put the verb first. Hast du…?, Haben Sie…?
- Haben Sie einen Moment? is the sentence that starts almost every counter conversation in Germany. Learn it now, use it tomorrow.
Where German Has and English Is
This is the reason this page matters more than a simple "to have" lesson. These are fixed expressions — the noun never takes an article, and swapping in sein makes the sentence wrong.
I'm hungry.
Ich habe Hunger.
I'm thirsty.
Ich habe Durst.
I'm scared.
Ich habe Angst.
You're right.
Du hast recht.
I'm in a hurry.
Ich habe es eilig.
I'm lucky.
Ich habe Glück.
I feel like a coffee.
Ich habe Lust auf einen Kaffee.
I'm cold.
Mir ist kalt.
Practice these words
Ich habe Hunger.
Quick notes:
- The last row is the exception that catches people out. Temperature doesn't use haben or ich bin — it uses mir ist. Mir ist kalt, mir ist heiß, mir ist schlecht.
- Angst takes vor: Ich habe Angst vor Hunden. Lust takes auf: Ich habe Lust auf Pizza.
- Say Ich bin hungrig and people will understand you perfectly. It just isn't what anyone says.
Sentences for Real Situations
I have an appointment.
Ich habe einen Termin.
Do you have an appointment? (polite)
Haben Sie einen Termin?
I have a question.
Ich habe eine Frage.
I don't have time.
Ich habe keine Zeit.
Do you have this in another size?
Haben Sie das in einer anderen Größe?
Do you have a table for two?
Haben Sie einen Tisch für zwei?
I have two children.
Ich habe zwei Kinder.
Do you have wifi?
Haben Sie WLAN?
I have a headache.
Ich habe Kopfschmerzen.
Have you got a moment? (informal)
Hast du kurz Zeit?
I don't have the documents with me.
Ich habe die Unterlagen nicht dabei.
We have an insurance card.
Wir haben eine Versicherungskarte.
Practice these words
Ich habe einen Termin.
Quick notes:
- Termin is the most German word on this list. It covers doctor's appointments, office slots, hairdresser bookings and anything at an Amt — and you will be asked Haben Sie einen Termin? before almost anything happens.
- WLAN is said "VEH-lahn." Nobody in Germany says "wifi," though everyone understands it.
- Notice einen in three of these rows. That's the masculine "a" doing its accusative thing — the ein and eine lesson explains why the word grows an -en.
- To say you don't have something, German uses kein, not nicht: ich habe keine Zeit, ich habe kein Geld. That pair gets its own page tomorrow.
The Past: hatte
Just like war, the simple past of haben is the form everyone actually uses in speech.
I had
ich hatte
you had (informal)
du hattest
he / she / it had
er / sie / es hatte
we had
wir hatten
you had (several people)
ihr hattet
they had / you had (polite)
sie hatten / Sie hatten
Practice these words
ich hatte
Quick note: Ich hatte einen Termin, Wir hatten Glück, Hattest du Zeit? — three sentences that cover most of what you'll need. With other verbs, German prefers a different past tense, but with haben and sein it sticks to this one.
One Extra Job: haben Builds the Past
Haben does double duty. Besides meaning "to have," it's the helper verb German uses to put most other verbs into the past: Ich habe gegessen (I ate), Ich habe gearbeitet (I worked), Hast du das gesehen? (Did you see that?).
You don't need the mechanics of that yet — but recognise the shape when you hear it. If a sentence starts with ich habe and ends with a word beginning ge-, it's talking about the past, not about owning something.
Three Mistakes to Avoid
Saying Ich bin hungrig / durstig. Grammatically fine, natively odd. It's Ich habe Hunger.
Using nicht instead of kein. Ich habe nicht Zeit is the mistake; Ich habe keine Zeit is the sentence.
Forgetting the -en on einen. After haben, masculine "a" becomes einen: Ich habe einen Termin, never ich habe ein Termin. Germans notice this one immediately.