Published on November 27, 2024

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!
- ‘Presente indicativo’ of ‘avere’ (Present simple)
- ‘Passato prossimo’ of ‘avere’ (Present perfect)
- ‘Imperfetto’ of ‘avere’ (Past simple/past continuous)
- ‘Passato remoto’ of ‘avere’ (Past simple)
- ‘Futuro semplice’ of ‘avere’ (Future simple)
- ‘Condizionale’ of ‘avere’ (Conditional mood)
- ‘Congiuntivo’ of ‘avere’ (Subjunctive mood)
- ‘Imperativo’ of ‘avere’ (Imperative mood)
- ‘Gerundio’ of ‘avere’ (Gerund)
- ‘Participio’ of ‘avere’ (Participles)
- Common idiomatic expressions with ‘avere’
- FAQs
- ‘Hai qualche domanda?’ (Do you have any questions?)

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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 pronoun | Italian | Translation |
io | ho | I have |
tu | hai | you have |
lui/lei | ha | he/she has |
noi | abbiamo | we have |
voi | avete | you have |
loro | hanno | they 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
io | ho avuto | I have had |
tu | hai avuto | you have had |
lui/lei | ha avuto | he/she has had |
noi | abbiamo avuto | we have had |
voi | avete avuto | you have had |
loro | hanno avuto | they 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
io | avevo avuto | I had had |
tu | avevi avuto | you had had |
lui/lei | aveva avuto | he/she had had |
noi | avevamo avuto | we had had |
voi | avevate avuto | you had had |
loro | avevano avuto | they 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
io | ebbi avuto | I had had |
tu | avesti avuto | you had had |
lui/lei | ebbe avuto | he/she had had |
noi | avemmo avuto | we had had |
voi | aveste avuto | you had had |
loro | ebbero avuto | they 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
io | avevo | I had |
tu | avevi | you had |
lui/lei | aveva | he/she had |
noi | avevamo | we had |
voi | avevate | you had |
loro | avevano | they 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
io | ebbi | I had |
tu | avesti | you had |
lui/lei | ebbe | he/she had |
noi | avemmo | we had |
voi | aveste | you had |
loro | ebbero | they 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
io | avrò | I will have |
tu | avrai | you will have |
lui/lei | avrà | he/she will have |
noi | avremo | we will have |
voi | avrete | you will have |
loro | avranno | they 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
io | avrò avuto | I will have had |
tu | avrai avuto | you will have had |
lui/lei | avrà avuto | he/she will have had |
noi | avremo avuto | we will have had |
voi | avrete avuto | you will have had |
loro | avranno avuto | they 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 presente | English |
io avrei | I would have |
tu avresti | you would have |
lui/lei avrebbe | he/she would have |
noi avremmo | we would have |
voi avreste | you would have |
loro avrebbero | they 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 passato | English |
io avrei avuto | I would have had |
tu avresti avuto | you would have had |
lui/lei avrebbe avuto | he/she would have had |
noi avremmo avuto | we would have had |
voi avreste avuto | you would have had |
loro avrebbero avuto | they 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
(che) io | abbia | (that) I have |
(che) tu | abbia | (that) you have |
(che) lui/lei | abbia | (that) he/she has |
(che) noi | abbiamo | (that) we have |
(che) voi | abbiate | (that) you have |
(che) loro | abbiano | (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 pronoun | Italian | English |
(che) io | abbia avuto | (that) I have had |
(che) tu | abbia avuto | (that) you have had |
(che) lui/lei | abbia avuto | (that) he/she have had |
(che) noi | abbiamo avuto | (that) we have had |
(che) voi | abbiate avuto | (that) you have had |
(che) loro | abbiano 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
(che) io | avessi | (that) I had |
(che) tu | avessi | (that) you had |
(che) lui/lei | avesse | (that) he/she had |
(che) noi | avessimo | (that) we had |
(che) voi | aveste | (that) you had |
(che) loro | avessero | (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 pronoun | Italian | English |
(che) io | avessi avuto | (that) I had had |
(che) tu | avessi avuto | (that) you had had |
(che) lui/lei | avesse avuto | (that) he/she had had |
(che) noi | avessimo avuto | (that) we had had |
(che) voi | aveste avuto | (that) you had had |
(che) loro | avessero 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 pronoun | Italian | English |
tu | abbi | you have |
noi | abbiamo | let’s have |
voi | abbiate | you 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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