Avere Conjugation in Italian: All Tenses + Auxiliary Role

You know avere means “to have,” but every time you try to use it, something trips you up. Is it ho or hai? Why does avrò have that accent? And what about when avere suddenly becomes the helper verb in sentences like ho mangiato? The short answer is this: avere is one of the two most important verbs in Italian, and once you learn its forms, you unlock compound tenses for hundreds of other verbs.

Avere in the present tense

The present tense of avere is irregular and must be memorised. These are the forms you will use constantly — for possession, age, physical states, and as an auxiliary.

🔊 Ho due fratelli. (I have two brothers.)

🔊 Hai tempo domani? (Do you have time tomorrow?)

🔊 Abbiamo una macchina nuova. (We have a new car.)

Notice that ho, hai, ha, and hanno all start with a silent “h” — this is purely orthographic and helps distinguish ho (I have) from o (or), hai (you have) from ai (to the), ha (he/she has) from a (to/at), and hanno (they have) from anno (year).

Avere in the passato prossimo

To form the passato prossimo of avere itself, you use avere as the auxiliary plus the past participle avuto.

🔊 Ho avuto un'idea brillante. (I had a brilliant idea.)

🔊 Abbiamo avuto fortuna. (We were lucky. / We had luck.)

🔊 Ho avuto la febbre. (I had a fever.)

The past participle avuto is regular: just drop the -ere ending and add -uto, the same pattern as cred-ere → cred-uto.

Avere in the future tense

The future tense of avere uses an irregular stem: avr-. Once you know this stem, the endings are regular for the future.

🔊 Domani avrò più tempo. (Tomorrow I will have more time.)

🔊 Avrai bisogno di aiuto. (You will need help.)

🔊 Avremo ospiti questo fine settimana. (We will have guests this weekend.)

Other common verbs also use shortened or irregular future stems: essere becomes sar-, andare becomes andr-, venire becomes verr-, potere becomes potr-, dovere becomes dovr-. Learning these stems together helps them stick.

Pro Tip: The accent on avrò and avrà marks the stress on the final syllable. Without it, you would mispronounce these words. Always include the accent when writing.

Avere in the imperfect tense

The imperfect of avere follows a regular pattern using the stem avev-.

🔊 Quando ero piccolo, avevo un cane. (When I was little, I had a dog.)

🔊 Avevamo fame dopo la passeggiata. (We were hungry after the walk.)

Use the imperfect when describing background states, habits in the past, or ongoing conditions. For completed actions, use the passato prossimo instead. If you want to explore when to choose between these two past tenses, see our guide on passato prossimo vs. imperfetto. The good news is that the imperfect of avere is fully regular once you know the stem avev-; the endings follow the standard -ere verb pattern.

Avere in the conditional

The conditional of avere uses the same irregular stem as the future: avr-.

🔊 Avrei bisogno di un favore. (I would need a favour.)

🔊 Avresti tempo di aiutarmi? (Would you have time to help me?)

🔊 Avremmo preferito restare a casa. (We would have preferred to stay home.)

The conditional is essential for polite requests and hypothetical situations. Once you memorise avr-, you have both the future and conditional of avere covered. The future uses endings like -ò, -ai, -à, while the conditional uses -ei, -esti, -ebbe. Same stem, different endings.

Avere as an auxiliary verb

Beyond meaning “to have,” avere serves as the auxiliary verb for most Italian verbs in compound tenses like the passato prossimo, trapassato prossimo, and futuro anteriore.

The pattern is simple: conjugated form of avere + past participle.

• Ho mangiato. (I ate. / I have eaten.)
• Hai visto il film? (Did you see the film? / Have you seen the film?)
• Abbiamo finito il lavoro. (We finished the work.)
• Avevano già parlato. (They had already spoken.)

When does a verb take avere?

Most transitive verbs — verbs that take a direct object — use avere as their auxiliary:

• Ho comprato un libro. (I bought a book.)
• Hai scritto la lettera? (Did you write the letter?)
• Abbiamo visto Marco. (We saw Marco.)

The logic is straightforward: if you can ask “what?” or “whom?” after the verb, it likely takes avere.

Some intransitive verbs also take avere. Movement toward a destination or a change of place (andare, arrivare, partire) usually takes essere, but activities — including movement without a destination like camminare or nuotare — take avere:

• Ho dormito bene. (I slept well.)
• Abbiamo lavorato tutto il giorno. (We worked all day.)
• Hai camminato per ore. (You walked for hours.)

For a complete guide on choosing between avere and essere as auxiliaries, including reflexive verbs and verbs of motion, see our article on why some Italian verbs use essere and others use avere.

Pro Tip: When a verb takes avere, the past participle normally does not change for gender or number — ho mangiato stays the same whether you are male or female, singular or plural.

Direct object pronoun agreement with avere

Here is where many learners get tripped up. While the past participle normally stays unchanged with avere, there is an important exception: when a direct object pronoun comes before the verb, the past participle must agree with it in gender and number.

The direct object pronouns that trigger agreement are:

• lo (him/it, masculine singular)
• la (her/it, feminine singular)
• li (them, masculine plural)
• le (them, feminine plural)

How agreement works

Compare these sentences:

Without a pronoun (no agreement):

• Ho comprato il libro. (I bought the book.) — comprato stays masculine singular
• Ho comprato la pizza. (I bought the pizza.) — comprato still stays masculine singular

With a pronoun (agreement required):

• L’ho comprato. (I bought it.) — comprato agrees with lo (masculine singular)
• L’ho comprata. (I bought it.) — comprata agrees with la (feminine singular)
• Li ho comprati. (I bought them.) — comprati agrees with li (masculine plural)
• Le ho comprate. (I bought them.) — comprate agrees with le (feminine plural)

🔊 La torta? L'ho mangiata tutta. (The cake? I ate it all.)

🔊 I documenti? Li ho firmati ieri. (The documents? I signed them yesterday.)

🔊 Le chiavi? Le hai viste? (The keys? Have you seen them?)

When ne triggers agreement

The pronoun ne (of it/them, some) also triggers past participle agreement when it replaces a direct object:

• Quante mele hai comprate? Ne ho comprate tre. (How many apples did you buy? I bought three of them.)

Notice comprate agrees with the understood feminine plural noun mele. Agreement with direct object pronouns is one of the trickiest parts of Italian compound tenses, so at VerbPal we mix these structures into your drills to help you practise naturally.

Common expressions with avere

Italian uses avere for many expressions that English handles with “to be.” These are essential for everyday conversation.

Physical and emotional states

• Ho fame. (I’m hungry.) — literally “I have hunger”
• Ho sete. (I’m thirsty.)
• Ho freddo. (I’m cold.)
• Ho caldo. (I’m hot.)
• Ho sonno. (I’m sleepy.)
• Ho paura. (I’m afraid.)
• Ho fretta. (I’m in a hurry.)

🔊 Ho fame. Andiamo a mangiare? (I'm hungry. Shall we go eat?)

Age

Italian expresses age with avere, not essere:

• Quanti anni hai? (How old are you?) — literally “How many years do you have?”
• Ho venticinque anni. (I’m twenty-five years old.)

🔊 Quanti anni ha tua sorella? (How old is your sister?)

Other common expressions

• Ho ragione. (I’m right.)
• Ho torto. (I’m wrong.)
• Ho bisogno di… (I need…)
• Ho voglia di… (I feel like…)
• Ho l’impressione che… (I have the impression that…)

🔊 Ho voglia di un caffè. (I feel like having a coffee.)

Pro Tip: When you learn these expressions, learn them as complete chunks — ho fame, ho freddo, ho bisogno di — rather than trying to translate word by word from English.

Common mistakes with avere

Even intermediate learners make these errors. Knowing them helps you avoid them.

1. Confusing ho with o

• Wrong: O una macchina. (means “or a car”)
• Right: Ho una macchina. (I have a car.)

The “h” is silent but essential in writing.

2. Forgetting the accent in the future

• Wrong: Avro tempo domani.
• Right: Avrò tempo domani. (I will have time tomorrow.)

The accent on avrò and avrà marks the stressed syllable.

3. Using essere where avere is needed

• Wrong: Sono fame. (trying to say “I’m hungry”)
• Right: Ho fame. (I’m hungry.)

Remember that physical states in Italian use avere, not essere.

4. Forgetting agreement with direct object pronouns

• Wrong: La pizza? L’ho mangiato. (masculine participle with feminine noun)
• Right: La pizza? L’ho mangiata. (feminine participle agrees with la)

5. Confusing avere as auxiliary vs. main verb

The verb avere uses itself as its own auxiliary:

• Wrong: Sono avuto tempo. (mixing essere with avere)
• Right: Ho avuto tempo. (I had time.)

Most of these errors come from translating too literally from English. Train yourself to think in Italian chunks, and they will fade.

Summary

Avere is one of the two pillars of Italian grammar — alongside essere. You need it for possession (ho una casa), for age (ho trent’anni), for physical states (ho freddo), and as the auxiliary for most verbs in compound tenses (ho mangiato). Once you master the forms in this guide, you unlock a huge portion of Italian.

For quick reference, visit our full avere conjugation tables to see all forms at a glance. And if you want to explore when to choose avere versus essere as an auxiliary, see our dedicated guide on essere vs. avere in Italian.

FAQ

What are all the forms of avere in the present tense?

The present tense forms are: io ho, tu hai, lui/lei ha, noi abbiamo, voi avete, loro hanno. All singular forms (ho, hai, ha) have a silent “h” and are monosyllables.

Is avere regular or irregular?

Avere is irregular. The present tense forms do not follow standard patterns, and the future and conditional use the irregular stem avr- instead of the expected aver-.

When do I use avere as an auxiliary verb?

Use avere as the auxiliary for most transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object) and for many intransitive verbs that describe activities. Examples: ho mangiato (I ate), ho dormito (I slept), ho lavorato (I worked).

Does the past participle change with avere?

Normally no — ho mangiato stays the same regardless of the speaker’s gender. However, when a direct object pronoun (lo, la, li, le) precedes the verb, the past participle must agree: L’ho vista (I saw her), Li ho comprati (I bought them).

How do I say “I’m hungry” in Italian?

Use avere: Ho fame (literally “I have hunger”). Italian expresses many physical states with avere that English expresses with “to be” — ho sete (I’m thirsty), ho freddo (I’m cold), ho sonno (I’m sleepy).