Ho una sorella. Ha vent'anni e ha un gatto.I have a sister. She is twenty and has a cat.

avere is Italian's verb "to have." It is irregular, and it does more than say what someone owns: Italian also uses it for age and for many feelings that English says with "to be" (I'm hungry, I'm cold).

Quick shortcut: ho (I have), hai (you have), ha (he / she has, and formal you have), abbiamo (we have), avete (you all have), hanno (they have).

Conjugation

Subject Form Example
io ho Io ho un fratello. (I have a brother.)
tu hai Tu hai una macchina. (You have a car.)
lui / lei / Lei ha Anna ha due figli. (She has two children.)
noi abbiamo Noi abbiamo un cane. (We have a dog.)
voi avete Voi avete tempo? (Do you all have time?)
loro hanno Loro hanno una casa. (They have a house.)

The pronoun is usually dropped (Ho un fratello.), as explained in Subject pronouns. Formal Lei takes the same form as lei: Lei ha un momento? (Do you have a moment?). More in Formal address with Lei.

The silent h

The letter h is never pronounced in Italian, but in four forms of avere it is written to tell them apart from other short words that sound the same:

With h (avere) Without h Meaning of the other word
ho o or
hai ai to the (masculine plural)
ha a to / at
hanno anno year

So in Ha una sorella ("She has a sister") the verb ha keeps its h, while in Va a Roma ("He goes to Rome") the plain a means "to." In Hanno tre anni ("They are three years old") you can see both: the verb hanno and the noun anni ("years").

What avere is used for

  • Possession and relationships: Ho una macchina. / Hai fratelli? / Marco ha una ragazza. (I have a car. / Do you have siblings? / Marco has a girlfriend.)
  • Age: Ho vent'anni. / Quanti anni hai? (I'm twenty. / How old are you?) Italian says "I have twenty years," not "I am twenty."
  • Physical states and feelings: Ho fame. / Ho sete. / Ho freddo. / Ho caldo. / Ho sonno. / Ho paura. (I'm hungry. / I'm thirsty. / I'm cold. / I'm hot. / I'm sleepy. / I'm afraid.)
  • Being in a hurry, being right or wrong: Ho fretta. / Hai ragione. / Hai torto. (I'm in a hurry. / You're right. / You're wrong.)
  • Need: Ho bisogno di aiuto. (I need help.)

In these expressions there is no article: Ho fame, not Ho la fame. They use avere, so essere (see The verb "essere") would be wrong here.

Questions and negatives

  • Questions keep the same word order. Yes/no questions use a rising tone, and questions with a question word keep the order too: Hai un fratello? / Quanti anni ha Marco? (Do you have a brother? / How old is Marco?)
  • Negatives put non right before the verb: Non ho tempo. / Marco non ha fame. (I don't have time. / Marco isn't hungry.) More in Negation with non.

One more job, for later

avere is also the helper verb in the most common past tense (ho mangiato, "I ate / I have eaten"). That has its own lesson later, so for now just learn avere as "to have."

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Io ha un cane. → ✅ Io ho un cane. (ha goes with lui / lei, ho with io)
  • ❌ Lui o fame. → ✅ Lui ha fame. (the verb needs its h; o means "or")
  • ❌ Sono vent'anni. → ✅ Ho vent'anni. (age uses avere, not essere)
  • ❌ Sono fame. → ✅ Ho fame. (hunger uses avere)
  • ❌ Loro ha una casa. → ✅ Loro hanno una casa. (a plural subject needs hanno)

Quick check

Fill in the correct form of avere.

  1. Io ____ una sorella.
  2. Tu ____ fame?
  3. Marco ____ vent'anni.
  4. Noi ____ un cane.
  5. Voi ____ tempo?
  6. Loro ____ freddo.
Show answers
  1. ho   2. hai   3. ha   4. abbiamo   5. avete   6. hanno

Key takeaways

  • avere is irregular: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno.
  • The h is silent but written; it separates ho / hai / ha / hanno from o / ai / a / anno.
  • Use avere for possession, relationships, age, and feelings such as hunger, thirst, cold, heat, sleepiness and fear.
  • These expressions have no article (Ho fame) and never take essere.
  • avere is also the helper verb for the common past tense, which has its own lesson later.