An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'have on', with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs!
The English phrasal verb 'have on' is perhaps not one that you are very familiar with, however it is one that you certainly should be as it has some useful applications for everyday speech. In this post, I will explain the different meanings of 'have on', from wearing clothes and jewellery to tricking someone, with lots of examples in context to help you learn, memorise and use them. So, without further ado, let's make a start. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end!
HAVE ON: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 5 |
Past tense forms | Had on / Had on |
Separable? | Yes |
MEANINGSÂ (Click to jump to each one)
THE BASICS
As a first step in our exploration of the phrasal verb 'have on', let's consider the individual words 'have' and 'on' and what they mean on their own.
Firstly we have the verb 'to have', which requires absolutely no introduction as it is one of the two most commonly used verbs in English (along with to be) and functions as both an auxiliary and a main verb. When used as a main verb, 'to have' has a couple of uses but I think that the main ones are the ideas of possession and indicating a specific relationship between two things or people....
I have a nice house in London.
John has a big family.
Next, we have the prepositional particle 'on', which again will be very familiar to all of you as it is extremely common and features in many different contexts due to its huge variety of meanings and uses. Perhaps the main meaning of 'on' when used as both a preposition and an adverb is 'to be in physical contact and supported by something' but it can be used in a large amount of other ways. In phrasal verb constructions, 'on' can be used to add the ideas of continuation, contact, connection, support, attention and progression, amongst other things.
WHAT ABOUT THE WORD 'GOT'?
There is one more word that I want to include here in this section as it is one that is often used in connection with the verb 'to have' when used as a main verb and it is therefore used a lot in phrasal verb constructions with the verb 'to have' too: 'got'.
The construction 'have got' (or 'has got' with he, she and it) is one that is used frequently in spoken English and in fact just means the same as 'have' or 'has'. In other words, the meaning of the word 'got' here is redundant and is not connected with the verb 'to get'. We use 'has / have got' typically when talking about possession, characteristics, illnesses and relationships and its usage also gets carried across into phrasal verbs with 'to have', including 'have on'. As such, for each meaning of 'have on' that we cover in this post, I have included a section in the information table to state whether or not 'got' can be used with it.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's make a start on the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'have on'....
MEANING 1: To wear something
CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To wear, to be dressed in, to sport |
Is it used with 'got'? | Yes |
Nouns commonly used with | Clothes, glasses, shoes, watch, jewellery |
Separable? | Yes - Always |
As I mentioned in the previous section, one of the principal meanings of the particle 'on' is to denote when something is in contact or is supported by something, and for this reason, we can use 'on' to talk about clothes as when we wear them, they are 'on' our bodies. This then brings us to our first meaning of 'have on', which is 'to wear something'.
Of course, first and foremost this relates to pieces of clothing as well as clothing in general and you can therefore use it as a synonym of the verb 'to wear'. Note that unlike with the verb 'to wear' however, we cannot use this application of 'have on' in a progressive ('ing) tense. As stated in the table above, this usage of 'have on' is separable and we normally use it this way, with the direct object (the item of clothing) going between the words 'have' and 'on'.
I have got my best clothes on today.
You don't have a coat on, you must be freezing!
Come on, Lucy. You need to hurry up. It's almost time for school and you don't even have your school uniform on yet!
The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hooray. The sun has got his hat on and he's coming out today (song lyrics).
In addition to clothes and garments, 'have on' can be used with anything that you wear on your body, such as glasses, a watch, jewellery and also perfumes.
Kevin has got his sunglasses on today to hide his black eye.
I don't have my glasses on, so I can't read the menu.
Mmmm you smell lovely. What perfume have you got on today?
Lastly, as you could probably guess, if you don't have anything on, it means that you are naked and this is indeed a common way of expressing this. It can be used to describe complete nudity or just with specific body parts, most commonly feet, to say that that part of the body is exposed and not covered.
I couldn't answer the door today as I'd just got out of the shower and I didn't have anything on.
Sarah had nothing on her feet and she tried to walk across the hot sand. She regretted it instantly!
BONUS: IDIOM ALERT Whilst we are on the subject of nudity, it is also possible to express being naked with an idiomatic expression featuring the phrasal verb 'have on': 'to not have a stitch on'.
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MEANING 2: To have plans
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | British English |
Potential synonyms | To have plans, to be busy |
Is it used with 'got'? | Yes |
Separable? | Yes - Always |
The second meaning of 'have on' is a British usage that will definitely be useful to you if you have a busy life because it means 'to have something arranged or planned'.
Typical situations that this application is used in:
When you have a busy schedule
When you are busy at a specific time
If you want to give an excuse for not doing something
To clarify this meaning further, if you have something on, it means that you have an engagement planned, organised or scheduled for a specific time. Consequently, we use it a lot when we want to give a reason for not being able to do something or go somewhere and occasionally some people (not me 😉) use it as an excuse to not do something. Moreover, we often use it when we don't want to give the exact details of our pre-arranged plans or the precise information is not necessary.
Again, this usage of 'have on' tends to be separated by native speakers.
What have you got on this afternoon?
Thanks so much for inviting me to the cinema with you. Unfortunately, I've already got something on tonight, so I won't be able to join you.
My wife can't come to the school parents evening next week as she has something on, so I will be coming by myself.
Aside from specific arrangements on specific dates, we can use this application of 'have on' to talk about when we have a very busy schedule in general. This can be either a work or a personal schedule and either way it tends to be used when we have lots of things organised that we must attend or go to. Due to the vague, non-specific usage of this application, it is often used with words such as 'lots', 'a lot' and 'much'.
Do you have much on this weekend?
I've got lots on today, so I am going to go into the office early.
I haven't got much on today, so I should get around to finishing the presentation.
MEANING 3: To be in operation
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Is it used with 'got'? | Yes |
Potential synonyms | To be on, to be in operation, to be functioning |
Nouns commonly used with | Television, radio, washing machine, heating, air conditioning, music |
Separable? | Yes - Always |
The third meaning of 'have on' that we will cover in this post means 'to be in operation or to be functioning' and is used primarily to talk about devices and machines such as televisions, radios and heating.
To understand this usage, we need first of all to go back to one of the many meanings of the particle 'on', which is 'to be functioning or in operation' and is used in particular to describe machines and devices. In other words, when a machine is 'on', it is functioning as it was intended and doing its job.
When we use the phrasal verb 'have on', we are not talking about turning or switching the device on, but rather we are talking about the state of it being on or in operation. It is often used when someone turns something on and leaves it for a specific period of time or whilst they are doing something. In addition to machines and devices, we can also use it with music.
When I am working from home, I always have the radio on in the background as it helps me concentrate.
John likes to have music on when he is running.
I watched a bit of the concert on TV last night. I had it on whilst I was doing some work and so I saw bits of it.
We always have the heating on constantly from November to March as it gets too cold in our house.
Lucy tries to not have the air conditioning on all the time as it is expensive.
MEANING 4: To fool someone
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | British English |
Is it used with 'got'? | No |
Potential synonyms | To trick, to fool, to tease, to play a prank on, to wind up, to deceive |
Separable? | Yes - always |
Our fourth meaning of 'have on' is for all of the practical jokers amongst you as it means to fool, trick or play a joke on someone. This particular usage is rather informal in nature and tends to be used mainly in British English.
Typical situations that this application is used in:
Practical jokes
Typically, if you have someone on, you make them believe that something is true when it is not. This is however not in a sinister way (like to deceive, mislead or swindle) but rather in a good natured, humorous way. It is normally only ever done amongst friends or family and is not intended to cause harm to anyone.
On a grammatical note, this application of 'have on' is different to the others that we have covered in the post so far. Firstly, it is normally used with a progressive ('ing) tense and secondly, it is never used with 'got'. Furthermore, it is separable and must always have the same "have someone on" structure ('have on someone' doesn't work here).
I've won the lottery?! Are you having me on?
We were having Roger on in the pub last night and we told him that the we had got parts in a new Hollywood movie. He completely believed it!
Don't worry, Helen. It's not true, you're not really going to have to move to Scotland. We were just having you on.
MEANING 5: To have incriminating information about someone
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Is it used with 'got'? | Yes |
Separable? | Yes - always |
We now come to our fifth and final meaning of 'have on', which is to 'to have incriminating information about someone'.
For this usage, the structure 'to have something on someone' is needed.
If you have something on someone, it means that you know some information about something bad that they have done or something that they do not want revealed to other people for some reason. It tends to be used when the information that you know can or could be used against the person, either as blackmail or to prevent them from doing something bad to you. Alternatively, the person may not be aware that you have the secret knowledge but you know that you can use it against them if you need to in the future.
Another way that this can also be used is with the police and prosecutions services because if the police have something on a criminal, it means that they have evidence that he or she has committed a crime and it is then highly likely that they can prosecute and punish them.
We've got something on John, so if he does try to get revenge on you, he will regret it.
You have absolutely nothing on me, Joe. There is no way that you can get me in trouble with the police.
The police didn't have anything on the suspected thief, so they had to release her.
IDIOM ALERT
Before I finish the post, I want to share a couple of useful idioms featuring the phrasal verb 'have on' with you....
To have nothing on someone / something = If you say that one thing has nothing on another thing, it means that it is nowhere near as good as the other. For example, in a restaurant I might say "this casserole is good but doesn't have anything on my mother's casserole", meaning that my mother's casserole is much better than the one at the restaurant. In addition to things, this can also be used with people.
Adam's new girlfriend may be beautiful but she has absolutely nothing on you, Laura.
This new computer game has nothing on the previous one in the series. It was much better!
To have a lot on your plate - This idiom does not mean that you are greedy and eat too much but rather that you are experiencing a stressful, worrying or busy period in your life.
Luke doesn't seem himself at the moment because he has a lot on his plate with his wife being ill.
Sandra has got a lot on her plate at the moment, so go easy on her.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'have on'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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