{"id":3477,"date":"2020-03-05T13:35:25","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T13:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/?p=3477"},"modified":"2020-03-05T13:35:26","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T13:35:26","slug":"avere-conjugation-italian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/avere-conjugation-italian\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complete Guide to the \u201cAvere\u201d Conjugation in Italian"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The avere<\/strong> conjugation is one of the most important conjugations in the Italian language. It is the equivalent of the English verb to have<\/em> and is used to indicate ownership or possession.<\/p>\n

It is also one of the two auxiliary verbs (the other one is essere<\/strong> \u2013 to be<\/em>) in Italian. This means that avere <\/strong>is also used to help conjugate transitive verbs in order to form compound tenses. Let’s now take a look at the conjugation of this important verb.<\/p>\n

Avere<\/em> Conjugation in the Indicative Present Tense<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Avere<\/strong> is not regular in all tenses, therefore it does not have a fixed pattern nor does it have the same suffixes that are used for regular verbs. Avere<\/strong> is used to indicate possession the same way English speakers use the verbs to have, to own<\/em> or to get<\/em>. There are, however, a few differences. The Present tense of avere<\/strong> looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Presente<\/strong><\/td>\nPresent tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io ho<\/td>\nI have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu hai<\/td>\nyou have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli ha<\/td>\nhe\/she has<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi abbiamo<\/td>\nwe have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi avete<\/td>\nyou have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi hanno<\/td>\nthey have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Marco ha<\/strong> un fratello e una sorella
\nMarco has a brother and a sister<\/em><\/p>\n

Sara ha<\/strong> molti vestiti
\nSara has many clothes<\/em><\/p>\n

Ho<\/strong> 24 anni
\nI\u2019m 24 years old<\/em><\/p>\n

The verb avere<\/strong> is even used to say how old someone is, unlike English, that uses the verb \u201cto be\u201d instead. It is literally used to say that you \u201chave\u201d a certain amount of age. Avere<\/strong> is also used to say that you are hungry when English uses the verb essere<\/strong> (to be).<\/p>\n

Ho<\/strong> molta fame
\nI\u2019m very hungry<\/em><\/p>\n

Avere<\/em> Conjugation in the Indicative Past Tense<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Italian has more than one past tense. The indicative mood has two simple past tenses: imperfetto <\/strong>and passato remoto<\/strong>. The good news is that the imperfetto<\/em> of avere<\/strong> is regular, therefore it follows the standard pattern. You just need to add the regular suffixes of the verbs ending in –ere<\/strong>: -evo, -evi, -eva, -evamo, -evate, -evano<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Imperfetto <\/strong><\/td>\nImperfect<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io avevo<\/td>\nI had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu avevi<\/td>\nyou had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli aveva<\/td>\nhe\/she had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi avevamo<\/td>\nwe had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi avevate<\/td>\nyou had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi avevano<\/td>\nthey had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Non avevo<\/strong> idea che la lezione fosse stata cancellata
\nI had no idea that the class had been canceled<\/em><\/p>\n

This tense is generally used to express regular activities that happened in the past or to describe people, feelings or situations that belong to the past.<\/p>\n

Da giovane Luca aveva<\/strong> folti capelli neri
\nWhen he was young, Luca had thick, black hair<\/em><\/p>\n

Da piccolo avevo<\/strong> sempre voglia di giocare all\u2019aperto
\nWhen I was young, I always wanted to play outdoors<\/em><\/p>\n

The other tense is the passato remoto <\/strong>(Remote Past tense), which indicates an action that happened a long time ago. It is rarely used in Italian, as native speakers prefer to use passato prossimo<\/strong> (Present Perfect tense \u2013 a compound past tense that we will see later). You can almost exclusively find it in literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Passato remoto <\/strong><\/td>\nRemote Past tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io ebbi<\/td>\nI had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu avesti<\/td>\nyou had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli ebbe<\/td>\nhe\/she had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi avemmo<\/td>\nwe had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi aveste<\/td>\nyou had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi ebbero<\/td>\nthey had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

L\u2019italiano Antonio Meucci ebbe<\/strong> per primo l\u2019idea di inventare il telefono
\nThe Italian Antonio Meucci first had the idea that led to the telephone\u2019s invention<\/em><\/p>\n

Avere<\/em> Conjugation to Talk about Future Actions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Italian future tense is used to talk about situations that haven\u2019t happened yet. The avere<\/strong> conjugation corresponds to the English \u201cwill have\u201d or \u201cgoing to have\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Futuro semplice<\/strong><\/td>\nFuture Simple<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io avr\u00f2<\/td>\nI will have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu avrai<\/td>\nyou will have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli avr\u00e0<\/td>\nhe\/she will have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi avremo<\/td>\nwe will have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi avrete<\/td>\nyou will have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi avranno<\/td>\nthey will have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Quando avr\u00f2<\/strong> 18 anni, potr\u00f2 prendere la patente
\nWhen I will be 18, I will get my driving license<\/em><\/p>\n

Se il colloquio andr\u00e0 bene, avrai<\/strong> il lavoro
\nIf the interview goes well, you will get the job<\/em><\/p>\n

Compound Tenses of the Verb Avere<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

So far, we\u2019ve seen the simple tenses of the avere<\/strong> conjugation in the Indicative mood, the most common and used mood in Italian.<\/p>\n

However, the Indicative also has a few compound tenses: passato prossimo<\/strong> (Present Perfect tense), trapassato prossimo<\/strong> (Past Perfect tense), trapassato remoto<\/strong> (Preterite Perfect tense) and futuro anteriore <\/strong>(Future Perfect tense).<\/p>\n

The compound tenses are formed by taking the appropriate form of the auxiliary verb avere<\/strong> (to have) followed by its past participle: avuto<\/strong>. Let\u2019s look at each compound tense, one by one.<\/p>\n

Avere<\/em> Conjugation: Present Perfect Tense<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Italian Present Perfect tense, or passato prossimo<\/strong>, is one of the most used tenses. The Present Perfect tense of avere<\/strong> is formed by the Present simple of the auxiliary verb avere<\/strong> (to have) + its past participle: avuto<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Passato prossimo<\/strong> can be translated in English both with the Simple Past and with Present Perfect. It is used to express actions that happened in the recent past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Passato prossimo \u2013 Present Perfect Tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io ho avuto<\/td>\nI had \/ have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu hai avuto<\/td>\nyou had \/ have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli ha avuto<\/td>\nhe\/she had \/ have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi abbiamo avuto<\/td>\nwe had \/ have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi avete avuto<\/td>\nyou had \/ have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi hanno avuto<\/td>\nthey had \/ have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tony parla cos\u00ec bene l\u2019italiano perch\u00e9 ha avuto<\/strong> un insegnante molto bravo
\nTony is so proficient in Italian because he had a very good teacher<\/em><\/p>\n

Avere<\/em> Conjugation: Past Perfect Tense<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The other two compound past tenses are called trapassato prossimo<\/strong> and trapassato remoto<\/strong>. They are less used than other tenses and are usually studied at advanced levels.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see the trapassato prossimo <\/strong>(Past Perfect) of avere<\/strong> first. It is formed with the imperfetto<\/strong> (Indicative Imperfect) of the auxiliary verb avere <\/strong>and its past participle avuto.<\/strong> It corresponds to the English \u201chave had\u201d structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Trapassato prossimo \u2013 Pluperfect<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io avevo avuto<\/td>\nI had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu avevi avuto<\/td>\nyou had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli aveva avuto<\/td>\nhe\/she had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi avevamo avuto<\/td>\nwe had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi avevate avuto<\/td>\nyou had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi avevano avuto<\/td>\nthey had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

It is often used to describe a past situation that happened before another one (both actions already happened in the past).<\/p>\n

Non avevo<\/strong> mai avuto<\/strong> stima di lui prima di conoscerlo meglio
\nI had never held him in high esteem before getting to know him better<\/em><\/p>\n

The other compound past tense is trapassato remoto (Preterite Perfect tense). It does not exist in English language and can also be translated with the \u201chad had\u201d structure.<\/p>\n

Its use is very rare in Italian language and exists almost exclusively in history books or literature. It is used to talk about an action happened before another one in the past, a long time ago.<\/p>\n

The verb avere<\/em> must be conjugated in the\u00a0passato remoto (Remote Past tense) and then you will add the past participle after it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Trapassato remoto \u2013 Preterite Perfect Tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io ebbi avuto<\/td>\nI had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu avesti avuto<\/td>\nyou had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli ebbe avuto<\/td>\nhe\/she had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi avemmo avuto<\/td>\nwe had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi aveste avuto<\/td>\nyou had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi ebbero avuto<\/td>\nthey had had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Si dice Maria Antonietta pronunci\u00f2 la famosa frase \u201cChe mangino brioche!\u201d dopo che ebbe avuto<\/strong> la notizia della rivolta popolare
\nIt is believed that Marie Antoinette said the famous sentence \u201cLet them eat cake!\u201d after she had had the news of the people\u2019s rebellion<\/em><\/p>\n

Avere<\/em> Conjugation: Future Perfect Tense<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The last compound tense in the Indicative mood is the futuro anteriore<\/strong> (Future Perfect tense). It is formed with the Future Simple of avere<\/em> plus its past participle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Futuro anteriore \u2013 Future Perfect<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io avr\u00f2 avuto<\/td>\nI will have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu avrai avuto<\/td>\nyou will have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli avr\u00e0 avuto<\/td>\nhe\/she will have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi avremo avuto<\/td>\nwe will have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi avrete avuto<\/td>\nyou will have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi avranno avuto<\/td>\nthey will have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Future Perfect tense is used in various situations<\/a>, such as for future actions that will be finished before another action takes place.<\/p>\n

Acquister\u00f2 il biglietto aereo solo quando avr\u00f2 avuto <\/strong>lo stipendio
\nI will buy the flight ticket only after I will get my salary<\/em><\/p>\n

Or to make a deduction or hypothesis about something that happened in the past:<\/p>\n

Marco mi ha chiamato diverse volte ieri, avr\u00e0 avuto<\/strong> bisogno di qualcosa
\nMarco tried to call me many times yesterday, he may have needed something<\/em><\/p>\n

Subjunctive Tense of Avere<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The subjunctive is a verbal mood that is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, to make hypotheses or to express hope, opinions or desire. It is often used in dependent clauses introduced by che<\/strong><\/em> (that). The subjunctive has two simple and two compound tenses.<\/p>\n

Present Subjunctive<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Present Subjunctive of avere<\/strong> is mostly used to express a subjective statement, opinion or wish. It looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Congiuntivo presente \u2013 Present Subjunctive<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) io abbia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) tu abbia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) egli abbia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) noi abbiamo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) voi abbiate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) essi abbiano<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Che tu abbia<\/strong> una vita felice e piena di soddisfazioni!
\nI wish you (to have) a happy life, full of satisfaction!<\/em><\/p>\n

Che ne abbiate<\/strong> voglia o no non ha importanza: dovrete fare i compiti ugualmente
\nYou must do your homework, it doesn\u2019t matter whether you want to or not<\/em><\/p>\n

Perfect Subjunctive<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Subjunctive Perfect of avere<\/strong> is used to formulate a hypothesis or a personal statement about a situation that happened in the past. It is formed with the subjunctive present + the past participle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Congiuntivo passato \u2013 Subjunctive Perfect<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) io abbia avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) tu abbia avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) egli abbia avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) noi abbiamo avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) voi abbiate avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) essi abbiano avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Marco non \u00e8 venuto a lezione. Che abbia avuto<\/strong> paura dell\u2019esame?
\nMarco didn\u2019t attend the class today. Maybe he was afraid of the test?<\/em><\/p>\n

Credo che abbiano avuto<\/strong> una discussione
\nI think they had an argument<\/em><\/p>\n

Subjunctive Imperfect<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The subjunctive imperfect<\/a> is used to talk about hypothetical situation that is unlikely to occur. It is often used in conditional clauses introduced by \u201cif\u201d (\u201cse<\/strong>\u201d in Italian). The subjunctive imperfect of avere<\/strong> correspond to the English \u201cIf I had\u201d structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Congiuntivo passato \u2013 Subjunctive Perfect<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) io avessi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) tu avessi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) egli avesse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) noi avessimo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) voi aveste<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) essi avessero<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Se avessi<\/strong> un milione di euro, mi trasferirei alle Hawaii
\nIf I had a million euros, I would move to Hawaii<\/em><\/p>\n

Pluperfect Subjunctive <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Pluperfect Subjunctive, or congiuntivo trapassato<\/strong>, is an advanced compound tense. It looks like the previous Subjunctive Imperfect and is also used to express a hypothesis or wish.<\/p>\n

The difference is that, while with the Subjunctive Imperfect of avere<\/strong> we talk about something that is unlikely to happen (but it\u2019s not impossibile), with the Pluperfect Subjunctive we already know that it didn’t happen, because we are talking about something from the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Congiuntivo trapassato \u2013 Pluperfect Subjunctive <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) io avessi avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) tu avessi avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) egli avesse avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) noi avessimo avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) voi aveste avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(che) essi avessero avuto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Se avessi avuto<\/strong> un milione di euro, mi sarei trasferito alle Hawaii
\nIf I had had a million euros, I would have moved to Hawaii<\/em><\/p>\n

Conditional Tense of Avere<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve come so far, we have good news for you: the Italian Conditional only has two tenses: present and past. The Present conditional of avere<\/strong> conjugation is the equivalent of the English \u201cwould have\u201d and looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Condizionale presente<\/strong><\/td>\nConditional Present tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io avrei<\/td>\nI would have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu avresti<\/td>\nyou would have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli avrebbe<\/td>\nhe \/ she would have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi avremmo<\/td>\nwe would have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi avreste<\/td>\nyou would have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi avrebbero<\/td>\nthey would have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The present conditional of avere<\/strong> is often used to make polite requests or give gentle advice.<\/p>\n

Avresti<\/strong> una penna da prestarmi?
\nWould you lend me a pen?<\/em><\/p>\n

Se fossi in te, non avrei<\/strong> questo atteggiamento
\nIf I were you, I wouldn\u2019t have this attitude<\/em><\/p>\n

The other tense is the Past Conditional, equivalent to the English structure \u201cwould have had\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Condizionale passato<\/strong><\/td>\nConditional Past Tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
io avrei avuto<\/td>\nI would have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu avresti avuto<\/td>\nyou would have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
egli avrebbe avuto<\/td>\nhe \/ she would have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi avremmo avuto<\/td>\nwe would have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi avreste avuto<\/td>\nyou would have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi avrebbero avuto<\/td>\nthey would have had<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Al tuo posto, avrei avuto<\/strong> la stessa idea
\nIf I were you, I would have had the same idea<\/em><\/p>\n

Imperative Mood of Avere<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Italian imperative is the mood used to give orders, offer advice or suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Imperativo Presente<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu abbi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
lui\/lei abbia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi abbiamo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi abbiate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
essi abbiamo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Abbi<\/strong> il coraggio di parlargli!
\nHave the courage to speak to him!<\/em><\/p>\n

Indefinite Moods of Avere<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Finally, here are the indefinite moods of avere<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Infinito \u2013 <\/strong>Infinitive <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Present tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
avere (to have)<\/td>\naver avuto (to have had)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Participio \u2013 <\/strong>Participle<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Present tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
avente (having)<\/td>\navuto (had)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Gerundio \u2013 <\/strong>Gerundive<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Present tense<\/strong><\/td>\nPast tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
avendo (having)<\/td>\navendo avuto (having had)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Conclusions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So now you know how to use the avere<\/strong> conjugation to talk about ownership in the past, present and future. With this guide, you\u2019ll be able to understand its different uses and how to form each compound tense. Now that you know the avere<\/strong> conjugation, let\u2019s go practice!<\/p>\n

Challenge yourself with Clozemaster<\/h2>\n

Learning how to conjugate\u00a0avere<\/em>\u00a0might seem daunting at first, but don\u2019t worry, it comes naturally with practice.<\/p>\n

Test your skills and see what you\u2019ve learned from this article by playing a selection of Italian sentences with\u00a0conjugated forms of\u00a0avere<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n