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| Avere il mondo a portata di mano | |
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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 as 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 (to be hot / hungry / wrong …), avere is equivalent to "be" in English.
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 compound tenses and moods like the passato prossimo.
Per esempio…
| 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
- Expressions with avere
- To be: essere | stare
- Introduction to verbs
- Auxiliary verbs
- Subject pronouns
- Top 11 irregular verbs
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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.
