haben

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-Germanic *habjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to grasp”). Cognate with Dutch hebben, English have, Danish have.

Pronunciation

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

• audio

  (file)

Verb

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

1. (transitive) to have; to possess, to own
2. (transitive) to have; to hold, to contain

   Glaub und hab keine Angst.

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

3. (auxiliary, with a past participle) to have forms the perfect and past perfect tense
4. (reflexive, colloquial) to make a fuss

   Hab dich nicht so!

   Don't make such a fuss!

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

   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.”)

Etymology

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