Essere e avere al presente
Essere e avere al presente means “"to be" and "to have" — the two most irregular and most useful verbs”. Essere: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono. Formation: essere: sono/sei/è/siamo/siete/sono · avere: ho/hai/ha/abbiamo/avete/hanno
"to be" and "to have" — the two most irregular and most useful verbs
A1Formation
essere: sono/sei/è/siamo/siete/sono · avere: ho/hai/ha/abbiamo/avete/hanno
Explanation
Essere: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono. Avere: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno. Note that the h in ho/hai/ha/hanno is silent — it only exists to distinguish them in writing from o 'or', ai 'to the', a 'to' and anno 'year'. Italian uses avere where English uses 'to be' for age, hunger, thirst, fear and heat: ho vent'anni 'I am twenty', ho fame 'I am hungry'. Also note that unlike Spanish, Italian has only one verb for ser/estar — essere covers both.
Examples
Note
sono is both 'I am' and 'they are' — only context tells them apart: sono stanco 'I am tired' vs sono stanchi 'they are tired' (the adjective agreement gives it away).
FAQ
Essere e avere al presente — what does it mean and how is it used?
"to be" and "to have" — the two most irregular and most useful verbs. Essere: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono. Avere: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno. Note that the h in ho/hai/ha/hanno is silent — it only exists to distinguish them in writing from o 'or', ai 'to the', a 'to' and anno 'year'. Italian uses avere where English uses 'to be' for age, hunger, thirst, fear and heat: ho vent'anni 'I am twenty', ho fame 'I am hungry'. Also note that unlike Spanish, Italian has only one verb for ser/estar — essere covers both.
Essere e avere al presente — how do you form it?
essere: sono/sei/è/siamo/siete/sono · avere: ho/hai/ha/abbiamo/avete/hanno
Essere e avere al presente — any usage notes?
sono is both 'I am' and 'they are' — only context tells them apart: sono stanco 'I am tired' vs sono stanchi 'they are tired' (the adjective agreement gives it away).