How to conjugate ‘avere’ in Italian: All tenses and moods explained

Avere (to have) is one of the most essential verbs in Italian. It’s used not only to express possession, but also to talk about experiences. On top of these basic functions, Italians use avere in a number of idiomatic expressions that don’t always translate literally in English. 

But avere plays yet another indispensable role in Italian: it’s a key auxiliary verb in compound tenses. All of this is to say that there’s no getting around avere if your goal is to master Italian grammar. In this guide, we’ll show you how to conjugate avere and open the door to smoother, more natural communication!

young man, sitting at a desk in a library, writing on his notebook about the avere conjugation

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‘Presente indicativo’ of ‘avere’ (Present simple)

Knowing how to conjugate avere in the Italian present tense is essential for expressing ownership, age and needs. To say “I have” in Italian, use io ho (pronounced ee-oh oh). However, as is true for all Italian verbs, the subject pronoun is usually dropped because the verb ending infers it. 

Subject pronounItalianTranslation
iohoI have
tuhaiyou have
lui/leihahe/she has
noiabbiamowe have
voiaveteyou have
lorohannothey have
  • Ho 30 anni. (I am 30 years old.)
  • Hai fame? (Are you hungry?)
  • Ho una macchina. (I have a car.)

‘Passato prossimo’ of ‘avere’ (Present perfect)

Avere acts as an auxiliary verb for most transitive verbs to form compound past tenses, which are used to speak about past events. The passato prossimo describes completed actions in the recent past.

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
ioho avutoI have had
tuhai avutoyou have had
lui/leiha avutohe/she has had
noiabbiamo avutowe have had
voiavete avutoyou have had
lorohanno avutothey have had
  • Ho avuto paura. (I was afraid.)
  • Hanno avuto problemi. (They’ve had issues.)

‘Trapassato prossimo’ of ‘avere’ (Past perfect)

The trapassato prossimo shows us what happened before another past event. It adds clarity to the timeline of a story, specifying what happened first in a series of events.

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
ioavevo avutoI had had
tuavevi avutoyou had had
lui/leiaveva avutohe/she had had
noiavevamo avutowe had had
voiavevate avutoyou had had
loroavevano avutothey had had
  • Avevo avuto un giocattolo così. (I had had a toy like that.)
  • Ne aveva avuto abbastanza. (She had had enough.)

‘Trapassato remoto’ of ‘avere’ (Past perfect)

The trapassato remoto is used with actions completed before another past action. Although rarely used in spoken Italian, it appears in historical writing and formal documents.

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
ioebbi avutoI had had
tuavesti avutoyou had had
lui/leiebbe avutohe/she had had
noiavemmo avutowe had had
voiaveste avutoyou had had
loroebbero avutothey had had

‘Imperfetto’ of ‘avere’ (Past simple/past continuous)

The imperfetto describes repeated or habitual actions in the past. It’s used to set the background in stories and describe recurring situations.

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
ioavevoI had
tuaveviyou had
lui/leiavevahe/she had
noiavevamowe had
voiavevateyou had
loroavevanothey had
  • Da bambina, avevo un cane. (When I was a child, I had a dog.)
  • Era una giornata calda. (It was a hot day.)

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‘Passato remoto’ of ‘avere’ (Past simple)

The passato remoto is rarely used in everyday conversation but appears frequently in literature, describing actions or events completed in the distant past.

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
ioebbiI had
tuavestiyou had
lui/leiebbehe/she had
noiavemmowe had
voiavesteyou had
loroebberothey had
  • Ebbero una vita interessante. (They had an interesting life.)
  • Ebbe molte difficoltà durante il viaggio. (He had many difficulties during the trip.)

‘Futuro semplice’ of ‘avere’ (Future simple)

The futuro semplice describes future states or events. It’s straightforward and essential for making plans or predictions.

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
ioavròI will have
tuavraiyou will have
lui/leiavràhe/she will have
noiavremowe will have
voiavreteyou will have
loroavrannothey will have
  • Avrò più tempo domani. (I’ll have more time tomorrow.)
  • Mangerò il risotto per cena. (I will have risotto for dinner.)

‘Futuro anteriore’ of ‘avere’ (Future perfect)

The futuro anteriore describes an action that will be completed before another future event.

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
ioavrò avutoI will have had
tuavrai avutoyou will have had
lui/leiavrà avutohe/she will have had
noiavremo avutowe will have had
voiavrete avutoyou will have had
loroavranno avutothey will have had

‘Condizionale’ of ‘avere’ (Conditional mood)

The condizionale expresses polite requests or desires. It helps you discuss what would happen under certain conditions and make expressions more courteous.

‘Condizionale presente’ of ‘avere’ (Present conditional)

Condizionale presenteEnglish
io avreiI would have
tu avrestiyou would have
lui/lei avrebbehe/she would have
noi avremmowe would have
voi avresteyou would have
loro avrebberothey would be
  • Avresti un minuto per me? (Would you have a minute for me?)
  • Avrei un cane se potessi. (I would have a dog if I could.)

‘Condizionale passato’ of ‘avere’ (Past conditional)

Condizionale passatoEnglish
io avrei avutoI would have had
tu avresti avutoyou would have had
lui/lei avrebbe avutohe/she would have had
noi avremmo avutowe would have had
voi avreste avutoyou would have had
loro avrebbero avutothey would have had
  • Se fossi partito prima, avresti avuto più tempo. (If you had left earlier, you’d have had more time.)

‘Congiuntivo’ of ‘avere’ (Subjunctive mood) 

The congiuntivo expresses doubts, wishes, emotions or hypothetical scenarios. It’s usually, though not always, introduced by che (that) or si (if).

‘Congiuntivo presente’ (Present subjunctive)

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
(che) ioabbia(that) I have
(che) tuabbia(that) you have
(che) lui/leiabbia(that) he/she has
(che) noiabbiamo(that) we have
(che) voiabbiate(that) you have
(che) loroabbiano(that) they have
  • Spero che tu abbia fortuna. (I hope you have luck.)
  • È importante che tu abbia rispetto. (It’s important that you have respect.)

‘Congiuntivo passato’ (Present perfect subjunctive)

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
(che) ioabbia avuto(that) I have had
(che) tuabbia avuto(that) you have had
(che) lui/leiabbia avuto(that) he/she have had
(che) noiabbiamo avuto(that) we have had
(che) voiabbiate avuto(that) you have had
(che) loroabbiano avuto(that) they have had
  • Spero che tu abbia avuto una buona esperienza. (I hope you have had a good experience.)
  • Non credo che loro abbiano avuto tempo. (I don't think they had time.)

‘Congiuntivo imperfetto’ (Imperfect subjunctive)

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
(che) ioavessi(that) I had
(che) tuavessi(that) you had
(che) lui/leiavesse(that) he/she had
(che) noiavessimo(that) we had
(che) voiaveste(that) you had
(che) loroavessero(that) they had
  • Se solo avessi più tempo. (If only I had more time.)
  • Se avessi una buona memoria, ricorderesti. (If you had a good memory, you’d remember.)

‘Congiuntivo trapassato’ (Past perfect subjunctive)

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
(che) ioavessi avuto(that) I had had
(che) tuavessi avuto(that) you had had
(che) lui/leiavesse avuto(that) he/she had had
(che) noiavessimo avuto(that) we had had
(che) voiaveste avuto(that) you had had
(che) loroavessero avuto(that) they had had
  • Se avessimo avuto paura non ce l’avremmo fatta. (If we had had fear, we wouldn't have done it.)
  • Se avessi avuto più tempo, avrei studiato di più. (If I had had more time, I would have studied more.)

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‘Imperativo’ of ‘avere’ (Imperative mood)

The imperativo is used to give commands, requests or advice. It can express encouragement, instructions or expectations, depending on the context.

Subject pronounItalianEnglish
tuabbiyou have
noiabbiamolet’s have
voiabbiateyou have
  • Abbi pazienza! (Have patience!)
  • Calmiamoci, abbiamo fede! (Calm down, let’s have faith!)

‘Gerundio’ of ‘avere’ (Gerund)

The gerundio describes actions that happen simultaneously with or as a result of another action.

The present gerund of avere is avendo (having). It’s used for current or ongoing states.

The past gerund of avere is avendo avuto (having had). It’s used for completed actions that influence a second action.

  • Avendo fame, sono andato a mangiare. (Being hungry, I went to eat.)
  • Avendo avuto fortuna, ha vinto la gara. (Having had luck, he won the race.)

‘Participio’ of ‘avere’ (Participles)

The participio presente, avente (having), is found in very technical or poetic contexts, and rarely seen in everyday language.

The participio passato, avuto (had), is used in tenses like the passato prossimo and trapassato prossimo.

  • Ha avuto un’esperienza interessante. (She had an interesting experience.)
  • Ho avuto un anno difficile. (I had a tough year.)

Common idiomatic expressions with ‘avere’

Many Italian expressions use avere instead of essere (to be), because one is not experiencing that state, but rather has it at that moment. It’s important to keep this in mind before translating directly. Some examples are:

  • Ho fame. (lit. I have hunger → I am hungry.)
  • Hai freddo? (lit. Do you have cold? → Are you cold?)
  • Abbiamo ragione. (lit. We have reason → We are right.)
  • Ho paura. (lit.I have fear → I am afraid.)
  • Hanno fretta. (lit. They have hurry → They’re in a hurry.)

FAQs

What are the present-tense conjugations of avere?

Io ho
Tu
hai
Lui / Lei
ha
Noi
abbiamo
Voi
avete
Loro
hanno

How do I use the Italian verb avere in a sentence?

Avere is used to express possession or as an auxiliary verb to form compound tenses. For example, you could say “Ho una macchina” (I have a car) or “Ho mangiato” (I have eaten).

What does avere fretta mean?

Avere fretta means “to be in a hurry” (Literally to have a hurry.)

‘Hai qualche domanda?’ (Do you have any questions?)

The verb avere is essential in everyday Italian conversations; it’s used to express possession and punctual states, but it also functions as an auxiliary verb. Knowing how to use it will help you communicate about events in your daily life, your needs and your feelings. Mastering avere is a key step in building fluency!
If you want to practice with native speakers and get real-time feedback, join Lingoda’s Italian classes. You’ll gain confidence, improve your skills and have fun along the way. Start learning today and see how much faster your Italian will grow with guided practice!

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Imanol Rodríguez Guridi

Imanol Rodríguez Guridi

Imanol Rodríguez Guridi is a Uruguayan polyglot writer with a moderate obsession for world music research. As a former Literature student who realized he should’ve aimed for Ethnography instead, he has spent serious amounts of time thoroughly traveling through over 40 countries, engaging with locals to a maximum degree with the hopes of understanding their traditions, habits, languages, religions, virtues and vices directly from the source. Writing and traveling aside, he’s an Abhyanga massage therapist and loves mixing music.