Adult ESL/ELL Beginner Quiz: Using Have Has
10 questions · exam conditions
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Using Have HasQuestion 1 of 10

Which sentence uses 'have' or 'has' correctly to talk about a possession?

She have a warm coat for the winter season this year.
They has two children and a small house near the park.
He has a old bicycle that he rides to work each morning.
We have a small garden behind our house where we grow vegetables.
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Adult ESL/ELL Beginner Quiz

Adult ESL/ELL Beginner Quiz: Using Have Has

Practice Using Have Has in Adult ESL/ELL Beginner with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Using Have Has, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Adult ESL/ELL Beginner.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Which sentence uses 'have' or 'has' correctly to talk about a possession?

  1. She have a warm coat for the winter season this year.
  2. They has two children and a small house near the park.
  3. He has a old bicycle that he rides to work each morning.
  4. We have a small garden behind our house where we grow vegetables. (correct answer)
Explanation: When using "have" and "has" to show possession, the verb must match the subject. "Have" is used with I, you, we, and they. "Has" is used with he, she, and it. This subject-verb agreement rule is one of the most tested grammar points at this level, so recognizing the subject before choosing the verb is your first step. Choice D is correct because the subject "we" correctly pairs with "have," and the rest of the sentence is grammatically clean — "a small garden" uses the right article, and the description is clear and natural. This is a well-formed sentence in every way. Choice A has a subject-verb agreement error. "She" is a third-person singular subject, so it requires "has," not "have." It should read "She has a warm coat." Choice B makes the opposite mistake. "They" is a plural subject and must use "have," not "has." The correct form would be "They have two children." Choice C is tricky because the verb "has" is actually correct with "he." However, the sentence contains a different error — the article before "old" should be "an," not "a," since "old" begins with a vowel sound. Always check the whole sentence, not just one part. A helpful tip: memorize this quick rule — he, she, it = has; everyone else = have. On this exam, wrong answers often swap these two forms, so check the subject first, then confirm the verb matches. Also watch for small errors like article mistakes, which can make an otherwise correct-looking sentence wrong.

Question 2

Anna is talking to her friend. She says: 'My husband and I   a small apartment. It   two bedrooms and one bathroom. We   everything we need.'

Which set of words correctly fills in all three blanks in Anna's sentence?

  1. have / has / have — because 'my husband and I' and 'we' are plural, and 'it' is singular. (correct answer)
  2. has / has / has — because Anna is talking about her family, and family words always use 'has.'
  3. have / have / has — because 'my husband and I' is plural, 'it' is also plural, and 'we' is singular.
  4. has / have / have — because 'my husband and I' is singular, 'it' is plural, and 'we' is also plural.
Explanation: When filling in blanks with forms of the verb "have," you need to match the verb to its subject. In English, we use "has" with singular subjects (he, she, it) and "have" with plural subjects (I, you, we, they). Let's look at each blank. The first subject is "my husband and I" — whenever you join two people with "and," you get a plural subject, so this needs "have." The second subject is "it," referring to the apartment — "it" is singular, so this needs "has." The third subject is "we," which is always plural, so this needs "have." That gives you have / has / have, which is answer A — the correct choice. Answer B is wrong because it uses "has" for all three blanks, including "my husband and I" and "we," which are both plural. Family topics don't change this grammar rule. Answer C incorrectly treats "it" as plural and "we" as singular — exactly backwards. "It" always takes "has," and "we" always takes "have." Answer D makes the biggest errors by calling "my husband and I" singular (it never is) and treating "it" as plural (it never is either). A helpful tip to remember: whenever you see "my husband and I," "my friend and I," or any "[person] and I" combination, it always equals "we" — and "we" always uses "have." Train yourself to spot the subject first, decide if it's singular or plural, then choose your verb. This pattern appears frequently on beginner ESL exams.

Question 3

Rosa is filling out a form at a clinic. The nurse asks her questions about her family's needs. Rosa answers: 'My son has a fever. My daughters have headaches. My husband and I have no medicine at home. Our dog has no water.'

Rosa's neighbor reads her answers and says one sentence has a verb error. Which sentence in Rosa's answer actually contains a verb error with 'have' or 'has'?

  1. 'My son has a fever' — because 'my son' is plural and should use 'have.'
  2. 'My daughters have headaches' — because 'my daughters' is singular and should use 'has.'
  3. 'My husband and I have no medicine at home' — because two people together should use 'has.'
  4. None of the sentences has a verb error. All four sentences use 'have' and 'has' correctly based on their subjects. (correct answer)
Explanation: When you see a question about "have" vs. "has," always start by identifying the subject of each sentence — that tells you which verb form is correct. "Has" is used with singular subjects (he, she, it, one person or thing), while "have" is used with plural subjects and with "I" or "you." Looking at Rosa's four sentences, every verb choice is actually correct. "My son has a fever" is right because "my son" is one person — singular, so "has" is correct. "My daughters have headaches" is right because "my daughters" refers to more than one person — plural, so "have" is correct. "My husband and I have no medicine at home" is right because two people joined by "and" form a plural subject, so "have" is correct. "Our dog has no water" is right because "our dog" is one animal — singular, so "has" is correct. That makes D the right answer: all four sentences use "have" and "has" correctly. Choice A is wrong because "my son" is not plural — it refers to one person, so "has" is the correct choice, not an error. Choice B is wrong because "my daughters" is not singular — the "-s" ending signals plural, making "have" exactly right. Choice C is wrong because "my husband and I" is a compound subject (two people), which always takes "have," not "has." A helpful tip: whenever you see "and" connecting two subjects, treat them as plural and use "have." Also remember that "I" always takes "have," never "has," even though it refers to just one person.

Question 4

A student wants to write a sentence about a basic need. She writes: 'The baby have a need for warm milk every night.' Her teacher says the sentence has one mistake. What should the student change to fix the sentence?

  1. Change 'have' to 'has' because 'the baby' is a singular subject that requires the third-person singular verb form. (correct answer)
  2. Change 'have' to 'had' because talking about a baby's needs is always written in the past tense.
  3. Change 'warm milk' to 'warms milk' because the noun must match the verb form used in the sentence.
  4. Change 'a need' to 'needs' and keep 'have' because adding an 's' to the noun fixes the subject-verb agreement.
Explanation: When you see a question about fixing a verb in a sentence, your first step is to identify the subject and check whether the verb matches it in number. This is called subject-verb agreement. In this sentence, the subject is "the baby" — one baby, a singular noun. In English, when the subject is a singular third-person noun (he, she, it, or a name/thing), you must add -s or -es to the present tense verb. So "have" becomes "has." The corrected sentence reads: "The baby has a need for warm milk every night." That's why A is correct — it identifies the right word to change and gives the right reason. B is wrong because there is no rule that sentences about babies must use past tense. The sentence describes an ongoing, present habit, so past tense ("had") would actually change the meaning incorrectly. C is wrong because nouns don't change form to "match" a verb. "Warm milk" is a noun phrase, and adding -s to "warms" would create a verb, which makes no grammatical sense in that position. Nouns and verbs follow separate rules. D is wrong because changing "a need" to "needs" doesn't fix the real problem — the verb "have" is still incorrect for a singular subject. You can't fix subject-verb agreement by only changing the noun. A helpful tip: whenever you see a present-tense verb in a sentence, ask yourself, "Is the subject singular or plural?" If it's singular (he/she/it), the verb needs that -s ending.

Question 5

Carlos and his dog live alone. Carlos needs food, water, and medicine. His dog also needs food and water every day.

A student writes: 'Carlos has a need for medicine, and his dog have a need for food.' What is wrong with this sentence?

  1. Nothing is wrong. 'Has' and 'have' can both be used with any subject in the same sentence.
  2. 'Has' should be changed to 'have' because Carlos is one person, so he needs the plural verb form.
  3. 'Have' should be changed to 'has' because 'his dog' is a singular subject and requires 'has,' not 'have.' (correct answer)
  4. Both verbs are wrong. The sentence should use 'has' for the dog and 'have' for Carlos because Carlos is the main subject.
Explanation: When a sentence has more than one subject, you need to check the verb for each one separately. In English, the verb "have" changes form depending on the subject: we use has with singular subjects (he, she, it, a dog, Carlos) and have with plural subjects (they, dogs) or with I/you. Look at the student's sentence: "Carlos has a need for medicine, and his dog have a need for food." The first part — "Carlos has" — is correct because Carlos is one person, and singular subjects take has. The problem is in the second part: "his dog" refers to one dog, which is also singular. A singular subject requires has, not have. The corrected sentence should read: "Carlos has a need for medicine, and his dog has a need for food." That makes C the right answer. A is wrong because it claims has and have are interchangeable with any subject — they are not. Subject-verb agreement is a rule you must follow every time. B gets things backwards: it suggests changing Carlos's verb to have, but Carlos is singular, so has is already correct for him. Don't let the compound sentence confuse you about the first subject. D is wrong because it reverses the rule entirely — it would give the dog has (which is actually correct) but change Carlos to have, which is incorrect. A helpful tip: whenever you see a compound sentence with two subjects, pause and check each subject-verb pair separately. Ask yourself, "Is this subject singular or plural?" before choosing has or have.

Question 6

Maria is a student. She goes to school every day. She carries a heavy bag. Inside the bag, there is one notebook, two pens, and a lunch box.

Which sentence correctly describes what Maria's bag contains?

  1. Maria's bag have one notebook, two pens, and a lunch box inside it.
  2. Maria's bag has one notebook, two pens, and a lunch box inside it. (correct answer)
  3. Maria's bag have has one notebook, two pens, and a lunch box inside it.
  4. Maria's bag has one notebooks, two pen, and a lunch box inside it.
Explanation: When a question asks you to identify the correct description of something, pay close attention to subject-verb agreement and singular/plural noun forms — these are two of the most common grammar traps for English learners. In English, when the subject is a single thing (like "Maria's bag"), the verb must be "has," not "have." We use "have" with plural subjects (like "the bags have") or with pronouns like I, you, we, and they. Since "Maria's bag" refers to one bag, the correct verb is "has." Answer B follows this rule perfectly: "Maria's bag has one notebook, two pens, and a lunch box inside it" — and every noun matches the passage exactly. Looking at the wrong choices, A uses "have" instead of "has," which is a subject-verb agreement error. One bag = has, not have. C makes an even more obvious mistake by writing "have has" together — this is simply two competing verbs in one spot, which is never correct in English. D uses "has" correctly, but then gets the nouns wrong: it says "one notebooks" (you cannot have one of a plural noun) and "two pen" (you need the plural "pens" when there are two). Both errors contradict the original passage. A useful tip: always identify the subject first, then ask yourself — is it singular or plural? If it's singular (one person, one thing), use has, is, does. If it's plural, use have, are, do. This simple check will help you eliminate wrong answers quickly on grammar questions.

Question 7

Read this short conversation: Tom: Do you and your roommate need anything from the store? Lisa: Yes! My roommate   no food at home, and I   only a little water left.

Which answer correctly completes Lisa's response to Tom?

  1. has / have — 'my roommate' is singular so it takes 'has,' and 'I' always takes 'have.' (correct answer)
  2. have / has — 'my roommate' is one person so it takes 'have,' and 'I' is formal so it takes 'has.'
  3. has / has — both subjects are people Lisa knows, so both use the same verb form 'has.'
  4. have / have — both subjects refer to people in Lisa's home, so both use 'have' to show shared possession.
Explanation: When a question asks you to fill in verb forms for different subjects, you need to match each verb to its own subject — this is called subject-verb agreement. For the verb "to have," the rule is simple: use "has" with third-person singular subjects (he, she, it, or a single person/thing), and use "have" with I, you, we, or they. In Lisa's sentence, the first blank follows "my roommate" — one person, so a third-person singular subject. That means it needs "has." The second blank follows "I," which always takes "have," no exceptions. So the correct answer is A: has / have. Choice B reverses the two forms, giving "have" to "my roommate" and "has" to "I." Neither of those matches the rule — "have" is wrong for a singular third person, and "has" is never correct after "I." The idea that "I" is "formal" and takes "has" is simply a made-up rule that does not exist in English. Choice C uses "has" for both blanks. It correctly identifies "my roommate" as singular, but then incorrectly applies "has" to "I" as well. The fact that Lisa knows both subjects personally has nothing to do with verb form. Choice D uses "have" for both blanks, arguing that shared living means shared verb form. That logic is false — verb form depends on grammatical person and number, not relationships or shared spaces. A quick tip to remember: memorize this short chart — I have, you have, he/she/it has, we have, they have. When you see "my roommate" or any single person's name, treat it like "he" or "she" and use "has."

Question 8

Look at this sentence: 'My brothers   a car, but my sister   a bicycle.' Which pair of words correctly completes the sentence?

  1. has / have — because the first blank needs a formal word and the second needs a casual word.
  2. have / has — because 'brothers' is plural and needs 'have,' and 'sister' is singular and needs 'has.' (correct answer)
  3. has / has — because both subjects are family members, so the same verb form is used for both.
  4. have / have — because the sentence talks about two different people, so 'have' is used for both blanks.
Explanation: When a sentence has more than one subject, you need to check whether each subject is singular (one person or thing) or plural (more than one) — because the verb must match. This is called subject-verb agreement. In this sentence, "brothers" refers to more than one brother, making it plural. Plural subjects use "have." The word "sister" refers to one person, making it singular. Singular subjects (he, she, it) use "has." So the correct pair is have / has, which is answer B. Let's look at why the other choices miss the mark. A claims the choice between "has" and "have" is about formality — but that's not how English works. Neither word is more formal than the other; the only rule is subject-verb agreement. C says both blanks should use "has" because both subjects are family members — but the relationship between people has nothing to do with verb choice. What matters is singular vs. plural. D argues that because the sentence has two different people, "have" fits both blanks — but this confuses the rule. "Two people" doesn't automatically mean both verbs are plural. Each subject must be checked individually, and "sister" is singular, so it needs "has." A helpful tip: whenever you see a fill-in-the-blank with "have" or "has," pause and ask yourself — is this subject one person/thing, or more than one? If it's singular (he, she, it, or one person's name), use "has." If it's plural or "I/you/we/they," use "have."

Question 9

Which of the following sentences contains an error in using 'have' or 'has' to describe a possession or need?

  1. You have a good job at the hospital near your home.
  2. The children have new backpacks for the first day of school.
  3. My teacher have a large desk with many books on top of it. (correct answer)
  4. She has a strong need for clean water and healthy food daily.
Explanation: When using "have" or "has" in English, the key rule is subject-verb agreement. "Have" is used with the subjects I, you, we, and they — as well as plural nouns. "Has" is used with he, she, it, and singular nouns. This question asks you to find the sentence that breaks this rule. Choice C is the sentence with the error. "My teacher" is a singular noun — it refers to one person — so it requires "has," not "have." The correct sentence should read: My teacher has a large desk with many books on top of it. Using "have" with a singular subject is one of the most common grammar mistakes beginners make, so it's important to catch it. The other three choices all follow the rule correctly. Choice A uses "you have," which is always correct — "you" always takes "have," even when referring to just one person. Choice B uses "the children have," which is correct because "children" is a plural noun, so "have" is the right verb. Choice D uses "she has," which is correct because "she" is a singular pronoun and requires "has." A helpful tip to remember: whenever you see a sentence with "have" or "has," first identify the subject. Ask yourself — is the subject singular or plural? If it's singular (one person or thing), you need "has." If it's plural or "you," you need "have." Training yourself to spot the subject first will help you avoid this mistake on the exam.

Question 10

A student is writing about what people in her neighborhood need. She writes four sentences. Which sentence is written correctly?

  1. The old man next door have a need for help with his grocery shopping every week.
  2. My neighbors has two young children who need warm clothing this winter.
  3. The two boys on my street has a need for new shoes before school starts.
  4. The family on the third floor has a need for a bigger apartment for all their belongings. (correct answer)
Explanation: When a sentence has a singular subject (one person or thing), the verb must end in -s or -es. When the subject is plural (more than one), the verb does NOT get that ending. This rule is called subject-verb agreement, and it's exactly what this question is testing. Look at choice D: "The family... has a need for a bigger apartment." The subject is the family — one family, singular. The verb has correctly matches a singular subject. This sentence is written correctly. Now let's see why the others are wrong. Choice A uses the old man as the subject — clearly one person — but pairs it with have, which is the plural form. It should be has. Choice B has the subject my neighbors, which is plural (more than one neighbor), but uses has, the singular form. It should be have. Choice C uses the two boys — two boys means plural — but incorrectly uses has. Again, it should be have. Notice the pattern in the wrong answers: A, B, and C all mismatch the subject and verb. Sometimes a long phrase between the subject and verb can trick you, so always go back and find the true subject before choosing your verb form. A helpful study tip: ask yourself, "Can I replace the subject with he/she/it?" If yes, use has or another verb ending in -s. If you'd use they, choose have. Practicing this simple swap will help you catch subject-verb agreement errors quickly on the exam.