've
See also: Appendix:Variations of "ve"
English
Alternative forms
- -a (slang)
Etymology
Contraction of have.
Pronunciation
- (postvocalic) IPA(key): /v/
- (postconsonantal) IPA(key): /əv/
- Homophone: of (postconsonantal 've only, unstressed of only)
Verb
've (clitic)
- Have in its sense marking the perfect or retrospective tense.
- 2015 November 30, Shane O'Mara, Why Torture Doesn’t Work: The Neuroscience of Interrogation[1], Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 12:
- Santorum, in a comment regarding Senator John McCain's repudiation of torture, stated, "He doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they've broken they become cooperative" (Summers 2011).
- (dialect) Have in its other uses.
- 1996, Deirdre Purcell, Roses After Rain, page 335:
- "...Where's the ladies' in this joint? I've to powder me nose."
Usage notes
In many dialects, -'ve is only used to mark the perfect aspect ("I've done something" = "I have done something"), not to signify possession ("I have something"), necessity ("I have to do something"), etc. In others, -'ve is used more broadly; this is sometimes proscribed.