this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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I have an apple - in this sentence, "have" is the main verb.
I have bought an apple - here, "to buy" is the main verb, the main action, while "have" is the auxiliary verb that lets you form the past tense "have bought". The word "auxiliary" means helpful or supportive, an auxiliary verb supports, as it were, the main verb.
Except you can most certainly say, "I've an apple."
You can, but would you? It sounds old-timey because it's not how modern English works.
lol, really?
I've an apple in one hand, and I've an orange in the other.
I've modernity all over me.
It seems like this usage has survived in British dialects more than elsewhere, I'll give you that.
Canada, too.
Texas, too. But having a Texan agree on language probably hurts your argument