Swedish verb · interjection· top 100 most common

ha

have, have, possess; be provided with/hɑː/

How ha is used

Ha means to have, and it is also the auxiliary for the perfect tenses: jag har ätit, “I have eaten”. It is irregular: har, hade, haft. Ha det bra! is the everyday way to say “take care” when parting.

ha as a verb

Meaning

have; have, possess; be provided with

In Swedish: äga; vara försedd med

Conjugation

Conjugation of ha (have)
Infinitiveatt hato have
Presentharjag har
Pasthadejag hade
Supinehaftused after har / hade
Perfecthar haftjag har haft
Past perfecthade haftjag hade haft
Futureska haor: kommer att ha
Conditionalskulle hajag skulle ha

Group 4: strong and irregular verbs. Strong verbs change their vowel and have a supine in -it (skriva, skrev, skrivit); irregular ones such as göra and ha follow no pattern. Both have to be learned one by one. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use har. See the four verb groups explained.

ha as an interjection

Meaning

ha! (same as the English); what?, come again?, I'm sorry?, huh?

Practise ha

1 / 2

Yesterday I … (ha). Which is the past tense?

ha in a sentence

  • Jag har två syskon.
    I have two siblings.
  • Har du ätit?
    Have you eaten?
  • Ha det bra!
    Take care!
  • hon har gjort det
    she's done it
  • jag hade sett henne
    I had seen her
  • ha blå ögon
    have blue eyes
  • hon har inte tid
    she hasn't got time
  • Vill du ha en apelsin?
    Would you like an orange?
  • jag har rätt
    I'm right
  • John har två katter.
    John has two cats.

Expressions

  • jag har svårt att komma
    I'd find it difficult to come
  • ha att göra med
    have to do with
  • ha råd
    afford

Questions

What does ha mean in English?

ha means “have, have, possess; be provided with”.

What is the past tense of ha?

The past tense of ha is hade (“jag hade”). The supine is haft, used in “jag har haft”.

What is the present tense of ha?

har, the same for every person: jag har, du har, vi har.

Similar words

innehavahava

Where the course teaches it

Origin

Apocopic form of hava, from Old Swedish hava, from Old Norse hafa, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to take, seize, catch”).

Nearby common words

ha is number 7 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.

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Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary