The Italian Verb to Have

The verb to have in Italian is avere. It’s one of the most commonly used verbs in the language and an essential part of everyday conversation. Avere expresses possession, relationships, feelings, and many physical or emotional states. Like all Italian verbs, it must be conjugated depending on the subject of the sentence. You’ll also encounter avere as an auxiliary verb in compound tenses, so mastering it early will help you form more complex sentences later.

Conjugation of Avere in the Present Tense

The present tense forms of avere are irregular and must be memorized. Notice that some forms begin with an h, such as ho, hai, ha, and hanno. The letter h is completely silent in Italian, but it’s written to distinguish these forms from other short words like o (or) and a (to).

When pronouncing abbiamo and hanno, pay attention to the double consonants bb and nn. In Italian, double consonants are slightly longer and stronger than single ones.

Examples with Avere

The most common use of avere is to express possessionm things you own or have. Let’s start with some basic examples:

Avere is also used in many everyday expressions related to age, health, and emotions. In these cases, English uses the verb to be, but Italian uses to have. For example:

Negative Form

To make a sentence negative with avere, simply place non directly before the verb. The structure is straightforward, and nothing else in the sentence changes.

Remember: non always goes right before the verb. This rule applies to all Italian verbs, not just avere.

Questions with Avere

Asking questions with avere is easy, just raise your voice at the end of the sentence. There’s no need to change the word order like in English. In writing, simply add a question mark.

Avere as an Auxiliary Verb

Besides its meaning to have, avere also serves as an auxiliary (helping) verb when forming compound tenses, such as the past tense (passato prossimo). For example: Ho mangiato means I have eaten, where ho comes from avere. Most Italian verbs use avere in compound tenses, but some use essere. We talk more about this topic in this lesson: Passato Prossimo.

Summary

The Italian verb avere (to have) is essential for expressing possession, relationships, feelings, and physical or emotional states. Its present tense forms are irregular and must be memorized: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno.

• For positive sentences: Use the correct form for the subject.
• For negative sentences: Place non before the verb (e.g., Non ho un cane I do not have a dog).
• For questions: Keep the word order the same and add a question mark (e.g., Hai dei fratelli? Do you have any brothers?).
• In everyday expressions: Italian often uses avere where English uses to be (e.g., Ho fame I am hungry).
• Avere is also an Auxiliary verb: avere helps form compound tenses like the passato prossimo (e.g., Ho mangiato I have eaten).

Mastering avere early will make forming sentences, asking questions, and expressing emotions much easier.