Present tense conjugations of the verb Avere
Last week, I got some practice writing down the present tense conjugations of the word Essere ("to be").
This week, let's do Avere ("to have").
As you might imagine, Avere is very commonly used in Italian, so it's an important one to learn by heart. You'll frequently use it to:
- Indicate possession (obviously)
- Tell the time
- Indicate a condition
- Form a compound tense, which I won't get into here, because I'm still just learning the present tense 😄
Avere uses these conjugations in the present tense:
| Pronoun (Eng) | Pronoun (IT) | Conjugation |
|---|---|---|
| I | io | ho |
| you | tu | hi |
| he, she, you (sing. formal) | lui, lei, Lei | ha |
| we | noi | abbiamo |
| you all | voi | avete |
| they | loro | hanno |
Like its equivalents in other European languages, avere is an irregular verb.
Also, it's important to note that unlike in English, the h- is the avere conjugations is mostly not pronounced. In other words, saying "Io ho" sounds a little bit like "ee-yo 'oh."
Everyday usage of avere in the present tense
Here are some examples of avere in the present tense:
Ho un cane. (I have a dog.)
Hai una macchina? (You have a car?)
Lui ha una sorella. (He has a sister.)
Lei ha un esame oggi. (She has an exam today.)
Noi abbiamo una casa. (We have a house.)
Voi avete molti amici. (You all have many friends.)
Loro hanno una festa stasera. (They have a party tonight.)
Phrase of the day
"Meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani."
Better an egg today than a chicken tomorrow. Seize the moment and appreciate what you have today.