The Verb Avere (to have)

Level: A1. Avere means to have, and you will use it constantly — for what you own, how old you are and how you feel. It is irregular, so there is no ending rule to apply; you memorise its six present-tense forms, and you learn one small spelling habit: the silent h.

The rule

A verb is a word for an action or a state. Avere is the verb for having. The forms it takes for each subject are its conjugation, and because avere is irregular, those forms do not come from the regular stem-plus-ending pattern — you learn them:

• io ho — I have
• tu hai — you have (one person, informal)
• lui / lei ha — he / she has
• noi abbiamo — we have
• voi avete — you have (plural)
• loro hanno — they have

Four of these forms begin with a silent h: ho, hai, ha, hanno. You never pronounce it. Its only job is to keep these verb forms apart in writing from words that sound identical: o (or), ai (to the), a (to / at) and anno (year).

Italian normally drops the subject pronoun, because the verb ending already shows who is meant. Ho una macchina is a full sentence — “I have a car” — with no io needed. Add the pronoun back only for emphasis or contrast.

Forms

How to say it

The spelling looks tricky, but the sounds are simple once you ignore the h:

Example sentences

Common mistakes

• ❌ O una macchina → ✅ Ho una macchina. Without the h, o means “or”; the verb “I have” is ho.
• ❌ Tu ai un cane → ✅ Tu hai un cane. The tu form is hai; ai without the h means “to the”.
• ❌ Lei a fame → ✅ Lei ha fame. ha (with h) is the verb; a alone means “to / at”.
• ❌ Loro anno un cane → ✅ Loro hanno un cane. hanno is “they have”; anno (no h) means “year”.
• ❌ Sono vent’anni → ✅ Ho vent’anni. Age uses avere, not essere: you “have” years in Italian.
• ❌ Sono fame → ✅ Ho fame. Hunger, thirst, sleep, heat and fear all take avere.

A short conversation

— Ciao! Hai un momento? — Certo. Che cosa c’è? — Ho una domanda. Quanti anni ha tua sorella? — Ha diciotto anni. E abbiamo anche un fratello più piccolo.

Usage notes

• Avere shows possession. What you own or hold: ho una macchina, hanno un cane, avete una prenotazione.
• Age uses avere, with anni. Quanti anni hai? — Ho vent’anni. You literally “have” years; never use essere for age.
• Physical and emotional states use avere. ho fame (hungry), ho sete (thirsty), ho sonno (sleepy), ho caldo / freddo (hot / cold), ho paura (afraid), ho ragione (right).
• Avere is the main past-tense helper. The passato prossimo of most verbs uses it: ho mangiato (I have eaten), hai visto (you have seen). The forms here come straight back.

Compared with…

• Essere (to be): sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono. Use essere for who or what someone is and where they are (sono italiano, è a casa); use avere for what they have, their age and feelings. Do not mix them: it is ho fame, not sono fame.

Quick recap before the quiz.

Practice

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

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