Avere – to have

Avere - to have
Avere il mondo in tasca …
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Have an Italian Verb

Avere is one of the most common and useful Italian verbs and has irregular conjugations in just about every tense and mood. Avere literally means "to have," but also serves an an auxiliary verb and is found in many idiomatic expressions.

Avere = to have, possess

Ho una macchina blu.   I have a blue car.
Hai un numero di cellulare?   Do you have a cell phone number?

Avere = to have, be experiencing, be suffering from

Ha mal di testa.   He has a headache.
Abbiamo l’influenza.   We have the flu.

Avere present tense conjugations

Avere is an irregular –ere verb:

io ho    noi abbiamo
tu hai voi avete
lui, lei ha loro hanno

 Avere = to be

In more than a dozen common phrases, avere is equivalent to "be" in English.

avere __ anni   to be __ (years old)
avere caldo   to be hot
avere fame   to be hungry
avere freddo   to be cold
avere fretta   to be in a hurry
avere il mal di stomaco   to be sick to one’s stomach
avere il mal di mare   to be seasick
avere paura   to be afraid
avere piacere di conoscerti   to be pleased to meet you
avere ragione   to be right
avere sete   to be thirsty
avere sonno   to be sleepy
avere torto   to be wrong

 In southern Italy, you might encounter tenere (literally, "to hold, to keep") in place of avere for any of the above.

Avere = auxiliary verb

For the vast majority of Italian verbs, avere serves as the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses and moods – lessons coming soon.

Abbiamo già mangiato.   We’ve already eaten.
Avrete finito per mezzogiorno?   Will you have finished before noon?
Se avesse venduto l’auto, ti avrebbe ripagato.   If he’d sold the car, he would have reimbursed you.

 Related lessons

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Avere - Italian verb

Laura K Lawless
Laura K Lawless
Virtual Italian Teacher at Lawless Languages | Website | + posts

Ciao! I’m Laura K Lawless, creator, writer, editor, and CLO (Chief Lawless Officer) of this free online Italian learning site. Lawless Italian is an official Lawless Languages site.