Two of the first verbs you need to kick off your early conversations in Italian are “to be” and “to have.” You use them for almost everything, from introducing yourself to describing how you feel or what you own.
The verb avere (“to have” in Italian) is especially important. Not only does it help you express physical feelings, actions, and ownership, it is also the most common auxiliary verb. In this guide, you’ll learn the avere conjugation for the crucial verb tenses and the rules to express the past, present, and future in Italian.
Table of Contents
Five essential tenses to conjugate avere in Italian
To have a clear view of how verb conjugation works, you must know that Italian has three verb groups or coniugazioni depending on the endings of the infinitive of a verb.
- -ARE Italian verbs like amare (to love) form the prima coniugazione (first conjugation).
- -ERE Italian verbs like avere (to have) are the seconda coniugazione (second conjugation).
- -IRE Italian verbs like dormire (to sleep) form the terza coniugazione (third conjugation).
Verbs in the same group share common suffixes across the tenses, so by studying these endings, you can conjugate every regular verb in the same group. However, since avere is irregular, it changes its root in some tenses, so you can’t rely on standard patterns all the time and must memorize each form in its conjugation.
The good news? You don’t need to master all 21 Italian verb tenses in the avere conjugation! With just five of them, you can handle most conversations.
Indicativo presente (indicative present)
The indicative mood expresses certainty, so things that are real, have happened, or will definitely happen.
There are eight tenses within the indicative mood, but in everyday Italian, people use only a few of them, and the present tense is by far the most important. This is also the most irregular tense of avere, because the verb root changes for every pronoun from av- to h- and ab-.
- Io ho trent’anni. = I am thirty years old.
- Noi abbiamo capelli biondi. = We have blonde hair.
- I miei genitori hanno una casa a Roma. = My parents have a house in Rome.
In the chart below, learn how to conjugate avere in the present tense with Italian pronouns.
| io ho | I have | noi abbiamo | we have |
| tu hai | you have | voi avete | you have |
| lui/lei ha | he/she have | loro hanno | they have |
Pronunciation tip: The letter “h” is always silent in Italian.
Indicativo passato prossimo (indicative present perfect)
If you want to talk about the past, the passato prossimo is the most commonly used Italian verb tense.
Technically, it’s the Italian grammar equivalent of the English present perfect. You use it to describe things you’ve recently done or experiences that still feel connected to the present. However, you can also use passato prossimo to speak about events from the far past because, in spoken Italian, it has almost entirely replaced the passato remoto (the simple past).
Since the passato prossimo is a compound tense, it is helpful to understand its structure.
- auxiliary verb + participio passato (past participle, which is an invariable form of the verb in Italian).
Avere acts as its own auxiliary verb in Italian and English, so its passato prossimo is formed by:
- indicative present of avere + avuto (past participle of avere)
- Evviva! Ho avuto tempo di rispondere a tutte le email. = Hurray! I’ve had time to reply to all my emails.
The pattern is similar when avere works as the auxiliary of other verbs, for example, credere (to believe):
- indicative present of avere + creduto (past participle of credere)
- Ho creduto che tutto si sarebbe risolto per il meglio. = I have believed that it would all work out.
Check the chart to see the avere conjugation in the passato prossimo.
| io ho avuto | I have had | noi abbiamo avuto | we have had |
| tu hai avuto | you have had | voi avete avuto | you have had |
| lui/lei ha avuto | he/she have had | loro hanno avuto | they have had |
Indicativo imperfetto (indicative imperfect tense)
Another good-to-know Italian past tense is the imperfetto, which expresses ongoing or habitual actions in the past. It’s like saying “I used to have” and translates to the English simple past tense when describing routines or past situations that don’t have a clear start and end.
- Avevo un lavoro che mi faceva viaggiare molto. = I used to have a job where I traveled a lot.
- La mia bisnonna aveva gli occhi marroni. = My great-grandmother had brown eyes.
The Italian imperfetto is one of the easiest tenses you can learn in the avere conjugation, because its endings follow the regular -ERE patterns, as you’ll see in the chart.
| io avevo | I had/used to have | noi avevamo | we had/used to have |
| tu avevi | you had/used to have | voi avevate | you had/used to have |
| lui/lei aveva | he/she had/used to have | loro avevano | they had/used to have |
Indicativo futuro semplice (Indicative future tense)
Italian has two future tenses, but you will use the futuro semplice almost exclusively in everyday life. This tense translates to “will have” in English, and it’s essential for describing actions that will happen in the future, like telling someone you will start learning Italian, or to make predictions or assumptions.
- Questo pomeriggio avrò la mia prima lezione d’italiano. = This afternoon I will have my first Italian lesson.
- Da grandi avrete una casa tutta vostra. = When you grow up, you will have a house of your own.
The future simple conjugation of avere is almost regular, so it’s easy to remember. Simply pair:
- avere root “av-” + “r” + regular “-ere” verb suffixes for the future simple.
Here is a quick chart about conjugating the Italian verb avere in the future.
| io avrò | I will have | noi avremo | we will have |
| tu avrai | you will have | voi avrete | you will have |
| lui/lei avrà | he/she will have | loro avranno | they will have |
Condizionale presente (Conditional present tense)
Politeness is a key part of Italian culture, and it goes beyond using Italian greetings or knowing how to say “Have a good day” in Italian. You can also express politeness through verb tense: This is where the condizionale mood comes into play.
The conditional describes uncertain or hypothetical situations, such as doubt, wishes, and possibilities. Since it’s softer and less direct than the indicative mood, the condizionale presente* is also a way to make polite requests or suggestions in Italian.
- Avrei proprio bisogno di un caffè italiano stamattina. = I would really need an Italian coffee this morning.
- Avrebbe una penna, per cortesia? = Would you have a pen, please?
- Avremmo piacere di invitarvi a cena stasera. = We would be pleased to invite you to dinner tonight.
avere (conditional present tense)
| io avrei | I would have | noi avremmo | we would have |
| tu avresti | you would have | voi avreste | you would have |
| lui/lei avrebbe | he/she would have | loro avrebbero | they would have |
*The conditional present has a similar spelling to the indicative future, so many learners mistake them. Studying the two tenses simultaneously will help you spot the differences and avoid misunderstandings.
Why is the avere verb conjugation important?
Learning verb conjugation can feel challenging at first, but it’s essential to speaking Italian. Italian verbs change their suffix (for regular verbs) or both stem and suffix (for irregular verbs) depending on three key factors:
- the subject
- the tense
- the mood
Once you know how to conjugate verbs, you will understand Italian sentences better. The verb will tell you who is acting, when they’re acting, and whether the situation described is real or hypothetical.
1. Avere for sharing your age in Italian
One of the first differences English speakers notice is that Italians use avere (to have) instead of essere (to be) when talking about age*.
- Quanti anni hai? = How old are you?
- Ho 29 anni. = I’m 29 years old.
- Mia madre aveva 25 anni quando sono nato. = My mother was 25 when I was born.
- Avrò 40 anni nel 2030. = I’ll be 40 in 2030.
*In all other cases of introducing yourself, like saying “my name is” in Italian or stating your nationality and profession, you use essere.
2. Avere for talking about possessions and relationships
Describing ownership or relationships in Italian works similarly to English: you use avere to say that someone “has” something or to indicate relationships with someone.
- Ho una casa in collina. = I have a house on a hill.
- Mia madre aveva una macchina blu. = My mother had a blue car.
- Mio fratello ha tre figli. = My brother has three children.
- Quanti cugini hai? = How many cousins do you have?
3. Avere to describe physical characteristics and feelings
Italians use avere before nouns and essere before adjectives to describe physical characteristics.
- Marco ha gli occhi azzurri ed è bellissimo. = Marco has blue eyes and is very handsome.
- Carla aveva i capelli ricci da bambina. = Carla had curly hair as a child.
Avere is also the right choice for physical needs or states, like hunger, thirst, or tiredness. Keep essere for emotions or moods.
- Ho poca fame al mattino. = I’m less hungry in the morning.
- Abbiamo molto sonno. = We’re very sleepy.
4. Avere as an auxiliary verb
Knowing which auxiliary verb (avere or essere) you should use becomes natural with time and practice. As a general rule:
- Avere is its own auxiliary verb.
- Marta ha sempre avuto ragione. = Marta has always been right.
- Avere is the auxiliary of most transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object).
- Ho letto un libro interessante. = I read an interesting book.
- Avere works as an auxiliary for verbs of movement that describe an activity rather than a change of state, such as camminare (to walk), correre (to run), passeggiare (to stroll/to do a passeggiata), pattinare (to skate), and nuotare (to swim).
- Ho camminato per 11 chilometri. = I walked 11 kilometers.
Common Italian expressions with the verb avere
The avere conjugation is also essential for building many fixed Italian expressions that don’t translate literally into English. They’re easy to learn and extremely useful in everyday conversations, so memorizing them as whole phrases is worth it.
| Italian | English |
| avere caldo | to be hot |
| avere fame | to be hungry |
| avere fortuna | to be lucky |
| avere freddo | to be cold |
| avere fretta | to be in a hurry |
| avere l’ansia | to be anxious |
| avere paura (di) | to be afraid (of) |
| avere ragione | to be right |
| avere sete | to be thirsty |
| avere sonno | to be sleepy |
| avere tempo | to have time |
| avere torto | to be wrong |
| avere voglia di | to feel like (doing something) |
Start using the avere conjugation in real conversations
Want to bring all this knowledge to life? The best way is to start practicing the avere conjugation whenever you can. Rosetta Stone offers countless opportunities to immerse yourself in Italian. You’ll learn the language through real-life context, reinforce grammar naturally, and perfect every topic.
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