haben

See also: 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/, [ˈhäːbən], [ˈhäːbn̩], [ˈhäːbm̩] (standard)
    • IPA(key): /ham/ (common; particularly in the present tense, occasionally also in the infinitive)
    • IPA(key): [ɦɑːʔm̩] (less common; colloquially used in southern Germany)
    • Audio:(file)
    • Audio:(file)
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: ha‧ben
    • Rhymes: -aːbn̩

    Verb

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

    1. (auxiliary) forms the perfect aspect (have) [with past participle]
      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, regional, 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) to be occupied with, to like, to be into [with es and mit (+ dative) ‘something/someone’]
      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) to talk [with es, along with von (+ dative) or über (+ accusative) ‘about someone/something’]
      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. to have to; must [with zu (+ infinitive) ‘do something’]
      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

      • anahabēn
      • bihabēn
      • firhabēn
      • gihabēn
      • inthabēn
      • missihabēn
      • umbihabēn
      • widarhabēn
      • ūfhabēn

      Descendants

      • Middle High German: hān, haben
        • Alemannic German: haa, ha, heen, hoh, , häbä,
          Swabian: hau
        • Bavarian: hoom, hobm, hobn, hom, ho, hob
          Cimbrian: haban, hen, håm
          Mòcheno: hom
          Northern Bavarian: [hɔm]
        • Central Franconian: han, hann (most dialects)
        • East Central German:
          Erzgebirgisch: hamm
          Upper Saxon German: ham, hom
          Vilamovian: hon
        • East Franconian:
        • German: haben
          Berlinerisch: ham
          Ruhrpöttisch: habn
        • Rhine Franconian: hann, hawwe (Vorderpfälzisch), hunn (northern Palatine)
          • Frankfurterisch: [havə]; [hɑvə], [hɔvə] (older)
          • Palatine German: hann, hawwe, hunn
          • Pennsylvania German: hawwe
          • Upper Hessian: hu, hunn
        • Yiddish: האָבן (hobn)