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!

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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.)

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‘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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