verb
to have, to own
A1
"haben" primarily means "to have" (possession/ownership) and functions as the main auxiliary verb used to form perfect tenses. It is a strong (irregular) verb: present stems du hast, er hat; participle: gehabt. Not reflexive; auxiliary is "haben". Konjunktiv II form: hätte; imperative forms exist.
Examples
Er hat ein Auto und viele Bücher; er besitzt viel.
He owns a car and many books; he owns quite a bit.
Ich habe viel Spaß gehabt.
I had a lot of fun.
Er hatte keine Zeit.
He didn't have time.
Details
Mnemonics
Imagine holding something in both hands when you 'have' it.
Sounds like English 'have' — same idea: possession.
Notes
Very common auxiliary as well as main verb. Irregular (strong) verb; used as auxiliary for most transitive verbs in perfect tenses. Passive forms of 'haben' are archaic or extremely rare in modern German and therefore have been marked 'not applicable' throughout the passive conjugation table.