'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/, /ə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: of (postconsonantal 've only, unstressed of only)

Verb

've (clitic)

1. 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).

2. (dialect) Have (in its other uses).
   • 1845 March, “Editor’s Table”, in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XXV, New York, N.Y.: […] John Allen, […], page 267, columns 1–2:

     Do n’t tell me you ‘have n’t got time,’ / That other things claim your attention; / There ’s not the least reason or rhyme / In the wisest excuse you can mention: / Do n’t tell me about ‘other fish,’ / Your duty is done when you buy ’em; / And you never will relish the dish, / Unless you ’ve a woman to ‘fry ’em.’

   • 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.

See also

• 'd/’d
• 'll/’ll
• 'm/’m
• 're/’re
• 's/’s (third person)

Anagrams

• E.V., EV, Ev, eV, μeV