Avere, “to have”: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno

«Avere» means “to have”. It is one of the most frequent verbs in Italian, and it is irregular: its present-tense forms do not follow the usual pattern of verbs in -ere, so you learn them by heart.

You use avere to talk about what you own, your family and your appearance: «Ho un fratello» “I have a brother”, «Ha gli occhi verdi» “She has green eyes”. You also use it in many everyday expressions where English uses “to be”. The most important one is age: «Ho venticinque anni» means “I am twenty-five”.

Later, avere also helps to form the past tense: «Ho mangiato» “I ate” or “I have eaten”. For now, the present forms in the table are all you need.

The silent h and how to say the forms

The letter h is never pronounced in Italian. «Ho» sounds exactly like «o», «ha» like «a», and «hanno» like «anno». The h is there only in writing, to tell these verb forms apart from other words: «o» (or), «a» (to, at), «ai» (to the), «anno» (year). If you forget the h, you write a different word.

Two forms need care when you speak. «Abbiamo» has a double b and the stress on «bia»: ab-BIA-mo. «Hanno» has a double n, held longer: HAN-no. «Avete» is stressed in the middle: a-VE-te.

As with other verbs, Italian usually leaves out the subject pronoun, because the verb form already shows the person: «Hai una penna?» “Do you have a pen?”. Formal «Lei» uses the same form as «lui» and «lei»: «Signora, ha un momento?»

• Ho una domanda. · I have a question.
• Anna e Marco hanno una figlia. · Anna and Marco have a daughter.

Possession and description

The basic meaning is possession: the things, people and animals that you have. «Abbiamo un appartamento in centro», «I miei genitori hanno un cane», «Hai fratelli?». Avere also covers things you have arranged, such as a booking or a class: «Ho una prenotazione», «Ho lezione alle dieci».

To describe hair and eyes, Italian uses avere with the definite article: «Ho i capelli castani» “I have brown hair”, «Luca ha gli occhi azzurri». «Capelli» (hair) is plural in this meaning, because each «capello» is a single hair. Compare «essere», which says what someone is: «Sono alto» “I am tall”, but «Ho i capelli corti» “I have short hair”.

• Mia nonna ha i capelli bianchi. · My grandmother has white hair.
• La casa ha due bagni e un giardino. · The house has two bathrooms and a garden.

Age, hunger and other expressions with avere

English says “I am twenty”; Italian says “I have twenty years”: «Ho vent’anni». The question is «Quanti anni hai?», or «Quanti anni ha?» in the formal form. In a full sentence, keep the word «anni». Before «anni», the tens usually drop their last vowel in writing: «vent’anni», «trent’anni», «quarant’anni». «Venti anni» is also correct.

Avere also describes how you feel physically, again where English uses “to be”. In these expressions the word after avere is a noun, so «molto» agrees with it: «Ho molta fame» (fame is feminine), «Ho molto freddo».

Do not mix up three ways of talking about heat and cold. «Ho caldo» means “I feel hot”. «Fa caldo» means “It’s hot”, about the weather. «Il tè è caldo» means “The tea is hot”, about a thing.

Negatives and questions with avere

For the negative, put «non» before the verb: «Non ho tempo», «Non abbiamo figli». Where English says “any”, Italian simply uses the plural noun with no article: «Non ho fratelli» “I don’t have any brothers”. For a single thing you might own, Italians often use the definite article: «Non ho la macchina» “I don’t have a car”.

For a yes/no question, keep the same words and let your voice rise: «Hai fame?», «Avete una camera libera?», «Ha un documento, per favore?». Answer with the verb, because Italian has no short answer like “I do”: «Sì, ho fame», «No, non ho fame».

• Hai sete? No, grazie, non ho sete. · Are you thirsty? No thanks, I’m not thirsty.
• Scusi, ha l’orario dei treni? · Excuse me, do you have the train timetable?