Avere in Present Tense

Avere (to have) is one of the two most important verbs in Italian. Like essere, it is highly irregular and must be memorised. Avere is used for possession, age, physical sensations, and as an auxiliary verb in compound tenses.

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Full Conjugation

Person	Italian	English
io	ho	I have
tu	hai	you have (informal)
lui/lei/Lei	ha	he/she has, you have (formal)
noi	abbiamo	we have
voi	avete	you all have
loro	hanno	they have

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The Silent H

A distinctive feature of avere is the letter h at the beginning of four forms: ho, hai, ha, hanno. This h is completely silent — it is never pronounced.

Form	Pronunciation	Notes
ho	OH	Silent h; sounds just like "o" (or)
hai	AH-ee	Silent h
ha	AH	Silent h
abbiamo	ahb-bee-AH-moh	No h
avete	ah-VEH-teh	No h
hanno	AHN-noh	Silent h; double n

Tip: The h serves a crucial purpose in writing: it distinguishes ho (I have) from o (or), hai (you have) from ai (to the), ha (he/she has) from a (to), and hanno (they have) from anno (year). Forgetting the h is one of the most common spelling mistakes in Italian.

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Uses of Avere: Possession

The most straightforward use of avere is expressing possession.

Italian	English
Ho un cane.	I have a dog.
Hai il biglietto?	Do you have the ticket?
Ha una macchina nuova.	He/She has a new car.
Abbiamo una casa in campagna.	We have a house in the countryside.
Avete figli?	Do you have children?
Hanno molti libri.	They have many books.

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Uses of Avere: Age

This is one of the biggest differences between Italian and English. Where English says "I am 25 years old", Italian says "I have 25 years":

Italian	English (literal)	English (natural)
Quanti anni hai?	How many years do you have?	How old are you?
Ho venticinque anni.	I have twenty-five years.	I am twenty-five (years old).
Ha tre anni.	He/She has three years.	He/She is three years old.
Abbiamo la stessa età.	We have the same age.	We are the same age.
Mio nonno ha novant'anni.	My grandfather has ninety years.	My grandfather is ninety.

Note: Novant'anni shows the common contraction where the final vowel of a number is dropped before anni: vent'anni (20), trent'anni (30), quarant'anni (40), etc. But not with all numbers: venticinque anni (25 — no contraction).

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Uses of Avere: Physical Sensations and States

Italian uses avere + a noun for many states where English uses "to be" + an adjective.

The Complete List

Italian	Literal Translation	Natural English
Ho fame.	I have hunger.	I am hungry.
Ho sete.	I have thirst.	I am thirsty.
Ho freddo.	I have cold.	I am cold.
Ho caldo.	I have heat.	I am hot.
Ho sonno.	I have sleepiness.	I am sleepy.
Ho paura.	I have fear.	I am afraid / scared.
Ho fretta.	I have haste.	I am in a hurry.
Ho ragione.	I have reason.	I am right.
Ho torto.	I have wrong.	I am wrong.

Expressions with Avere + di