The verb avere (to have) in Italian: conjugation at every tense

Avere is one of the first verbs to learn in Italian. Irregular in the present, it appears in almost every sentence: to say that you own something, to express a physical or emotional state, and to build the compound tenses of the vast majority of Italian verbs. A complete overview of its forms and uses, from the indicative to the subjunctive, with concrete examples at every step.

Avere: an irregular verb with two roles

Avere belongs to the second group of Italian verbs — those ending in -ere. But unlike most of them, it does not follow the regular conjugation rules: its present indicative forms are built on a base that differs from the infinitive, with the ‘v’ disappearing.

This verb performs two distinct functions in Italian, just as its English equivalent does.

Full verb: it expresses possession, age, hunger, fear, sleepiness and many other states. Ho una macchina (I have a car), ho vent’anni (I am twenty years old), ho fame (I am hungry).

Auxiliary: it is used to form the compound tenses of the vast majority of Italian verbs. Ho mangiato (I have eaten), avevo dormito (I had slept), avrò finito (I will have finished). To understand which verbs take avere as an auxiliary rather than essere, a solid grasp of Italian conjugation as a whole is helpful.

Avere in the present indicative (presente)

The present is the most used form. The six persons have entirely irregular forms, very distant from the infinitive. Three of them are written with an initial ‘h’ (ho, ha, hanno): this ‘h’ is silent and serves only to distinguish these forms from homophones (o = or, a = to, anno = year).

The form abbiamo is the only one to retain a trace of the stem ‘av-‘ from the infinitive. All the others stand apart: ho, hai, ha, avete, hanno share no visible connection with avere. This is why these forms must be memorised one by one, without trying to apply a rule.

Avere in the imperfect (imperfetto)

The imperfect is regular and follows the standard model of -ere verbs: stem av- + endings -evo, -evi, -eva, -evamo, -evate, -evano. It is one of the most stable tenses in the conjugation of avere.

Avere in the present perfect (passato prossimo)

The present perfect of avere is formed with avere itself as the auxiliary, followed by the past participle avuto. This is one of the rare cases where a verb uses its own auxiliary.

Avere in the simple future (futuro semplice)

The future of avere is irregular: it is formed on the contracted stem avr-, to which the standard future endings are added (-ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, -anno).

Avere in the simple past (passato remoto)

The simple past of avere is irregular and rarely used in speech in northern and central Italy, where the present perfect replaces it. It remains common in writing, in literary texts and in the South of the country.

Avere in the pluperfect and future perfect

These two compound tenses combine the imperfect and the future of avere respectively with the past participle avuto.

Avere in the conditional (condizionale)

The present conditional of avere is also built on the contracted stem avr-, like the future, but with the conditional endings (-ei, -esti, -ebbe, -emmo, -este, -ebbero). The past conditional combines the present conditional of avere with avuto.

Avere in the subjunctive (congiuntivo)

The subjunctive is used after verbs of opinion, doubt, wish, or in subordinate clauses introduced by che. Avere is irregular in the present subjunctive: the first three persons of the singular share the same form, abbia.

Examples of the subjunctive used with avere:

Avere in the imperative

The imperative of avere is not often heard in everyday conversation, but appears in certain fixed expressions and in formal recommendations.

Uses of avere: possession, age and physical states

Beyond conjugation, understanding in which contexts avere is used as a full verb is a key point for English-speaking learners. Three main categories.

Possession. This is the most direct use, mirroring English.

Age. In Italian, age is expressed with avere, not with essere as in English. This often surprises learners: where English says “I am twenty-five”, Italian says ho venticinque anni (literally “I have twenty-five years”).

Physical states and sensations. Where English uses “to be” (I am hungry, I am cold, I am sleepy), Italian consistently uses avere.

Avere as an auxiliary: forming compound tenses

The vast majority of Italian verbs form their compound tenses with avere as the auxiliary. This is the case for almost all transitive verbs (which take a direct object) and for many intransitive verbs. In this role, avere is followed by the past participle of the conjugated verb, which remains invariable.

The verbs that take essere as auxiliary instead of avere are mainly verbs of movement (andare, venire, partire…), verbs of state (stare, rimanere…) and all pronominal verbs. To go deeper into this distinction and better understand the whole verbal system, the page on Italian conjugation covers the essential ground.

Summary table: avere at every tense

Practice exercise

Test your knowledge of avere conjugation: