The verb “avere” is as fundamental in Italian as it is in English. It usually represents the concept of owning or possessing something, but depending on the context and tense, it can also mean to get, to have received, or to hold.

Moreover, “avere” plays a significant role as an auxiliary verb for all transitive verbs – those verbs that have a direct object or complement (a noun or a different kind of object). It can also act as an auxiliary verb for some intransitive verbs. But what does this mean?

Well, “avere” is used to form all compound tenses of all transitive verbs, including itself. Consider all verbs that involve an action directed at an object outside of the subject, such as “mangiare” (to eat), “baciare” (to kiss), “bere” (to drink), “vedere” (to see), “scrivere” (to write), “fare” (to do), “amare” (to love). It’s important to note that the definitions of transitive and intransitive verbs don’t align perfectly between English and Italian.

Following is the full conjugation of the verb “Avere”.