avere — Italian conjugation
to have
Indicative
Present (Presente) Irregular
The presente covers habits, ongoing situations, and plans about to start — much like English “I study” and “I am studying”. One present tense does both in Italian.
Lavora da casa tre giorni a settimana.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ho | I have |
| tu | hai | you have |
| lui/lei | ha | he/she/it has |
| noi | abbiamo | we have |
| voi | avete | you (pl.) have |
| loro | hanno | they have |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Irregular
The passato remoto tells a completed, narrative past, especially in the south and in literature. The passato prossimo is the normal spoken past in the north, so you choose register and region, not a difference in time alone.
Quella sera arrivò tardi, senza alibi.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ebbi | I had |
| tu | avesti | you had |
| lui/lei | ebbe | he/she/it had |
| noi | avemmo | we had |
| voi | aveste | you (pl.) had |
| loro | ebbero | they had |
Imperfect (Imperfetto) Regular
The imperfetto is for incomplete past actions, context, and repeated or habitual situations without a clear end. The passato prossimo, not the remoto, is its usual “event” partner in speech.
Da bambina passavo le estati al mare.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | avevo |
| tu | avevi |
| lui/lei | aveva |
| noi | avevamo |
| voi | avevate |
| loro | avevano |
Conditional (Condizionale) Regular
The condizionale is for polite “would you…”, first-condition hypotheticals, and reported future from a past point of view. The classic if-chain is se + imperfetto → condizionale.
Potresti alzare un poco la voce?
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | avrei | I would have |
| tu | avresti | you would have |
| lui/lei | avrebbe | he/she/it would have |
| noi | avremmo | we would have |
| voi | avreste | you (pl.) would have |
| loro | avrebbero | they would have |
Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular
The futuro semplice is for predictions and far decisions. In speech you often hear the present (with a time adverb) or a paraphrase, and a famous trick is the futuro di probabilità for a present guess: saranno le tre.
Domani partiremo all'alba.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | avrò | I will have |
| tu | avrai | you will have |
| lui/lei | avrà | he/she/it will have |
| noi | avremo | we will have |
| voi | avrete | you (pl.) will have |
| loro | avranno | they will have |
Present perfect (Passato prossimo) Regular
The passato prossimo is the workhorse preterit-like past in the north and in everyday Italian: avere/essere + participle, essere for reflexives, motion, and other change-of-state patterns.
Siamo andati a piedi, poi abbiamo preso l'autobus.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ho avuto | I have had |
| tu | hai avuto | you have had |
| lui/lei | ha avuto | he/she/it has had |
| noi | abbiamo avuto | we have had |
| voi | avete avuto | you (pl.) have had |
| loro | hanno avuto | they have had |
Pluperfect (Trapassato prossimo) Regular
The trapassato prossimo is “further in the past than another past” — the Italian pluperfect. It pairs with a main past clause to mark sequence.
Avevamo già mangiato quando suonò il telefono.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | avevo avuto | I had had |
| tu | avevi avuto | you had had |
| lui/lei | aveva avuto | he/she/it had had |
| noi | avevamo avuto | we had had |
| voi | avevate avuto | you (pl.) had had |
| loro | avevano avuto | they had had |
Conditional perfect (Condizionale passato) Regular
The condizionale passato is for unreal or missed past results and often appears with se + trapassato prossimo in the protasis.
Avrei accettato, se mi avessero avvisato in tempo.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | avrei avuto |
| tu | avresti avuto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe avuto |
| noi | avremmo avuto |
| voi | avreste avuto |
| loro | avrebbero avuto |
Future perfect (Futuro anteriore) Regular
The futuro anteriore says something will already be over before a still-later future, or, like the French, can express a logical guess about a past result.
Entro le cinque, avrà già lasciato l'ufficio.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | avrò avuto | I will have had |
| tu | avrai avuto | you will have had |
| lui/lei | avrà avuto | he/she/it will have had |
| noi | avremo avuto | we will have had |
| voi | avrete avuto | you (pl.) will have had |
| loro | avranno avuto | they will have had |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular
The congiuntivo presente is required after many verbs and fixed phrases of will, fear, purpose, and doubt. Impersonal and semi-impersonal triggers (è importante che) also force the subjunctive mood.
Penso che sia la scelta giusta.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | abbia |
| tu | abbia |
| lui/lei | abbia |
| noi | abbiamo |
| voi | abbiate |
| loro | abbiano |
Imperfect subjunctive (Congiuntivo imperfetto) Regular
The congiuntivo imperfetto is the past of the congiuntivo system after a past matrix clause and in se + congi. imperf. → condizionale with unreal conditions.
Se avessi più tempo, viaggerei ogni mese.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | avessi |
| tu | avessi |
| lui/lei | avesse |
| noi | avessimo |
| voi | aveste |
| loro | avessero |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Regular
The affirmative imperativo reuses the tu form as 3sg for -are verbs, while other conjugations use the normal tu present. It is the direct command register.
Raccontami com'è andata l'esame.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | abbi |
| lui/lei | abbia |
| noi | abbiamo |
| voi | abbiate |
| loro | abbiano |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular
Negative commands use non + full infinitive in modern Italian, which is a distinctive rule compared to other Romance languages. Polite or indirect “please don’t” can still soften the tone in context.
Non aprire quella finestra, per favore.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non avere |
| lui/lei | non abbia |
| noi | non abbiamo |
| voi | non abbiate |
| loro | non abbiano |