How do you use the verb abbiamo in Italian? What does it mean? How do you pronounce it?
In this lesson, we will look at how to use this word with the help of many audio recordings and example sentences. Read on to learn everything you need to know!
How to use abbiamo in Italian
What is abbiamo?
Abbiamo is one of the present tense conjugations of the verb avere, which means to have. To be more precise, it’s the first-person plural present tense conjugation of avere, which is a very irregular verb in Italian and means “we have”.
Let’s hear how it is pronounced.
Abbiamo
We have
Its pronunciation is close to ahb-bee-AH-moh. If you have trouble pronouncing Italian sounds, check out the Italian pronunciation guide.
Now, let’s see some example sentences with abbiamo in Italian, before we take a look at how to use the verb avere along with its other present tense conjugations as well.
Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672
Learn to speak Italian like a native? Easy.
Italian All-in-One For Dummies appeals to those readers looking for a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide to mastering the Italian language. It contains content from all For Dummies Italian language instruction titles, including Italian For Dummies, Intermediate Italian For Dummies, Italian Verbs For Dummies, Italian Phrases For Dummies, Italian Grammar For Dummies, and Italian For Dummies Audio Set.
Abbiamo due cani e tre pappagalli.
We have two dogs and three parrots.
Abbiamo dimenticato qualcosa?
Have we forgotten anything?
Non abbiamo le chiavi per aprire la porta.
We don’t have the keys to open the door.
Abbiamo fame!
We are hungry!
(Avere fame = to be hungry)
Now let’s see where abbiamo in Italian comes from.
Usage of abbiamo in Italian
You probably already know that the indicativo presente (present tense) conjugation for the pronoun io adds the ending -o to the root of the verb, or stem (see note for more info).
What’s the stem of a verb?
Italian infinitive verbs end in -ARE, -ERE and -IRE.
Cut off this part and you are left with the root verb.
Examples:
sudare ➡️ sud-
credere ➡️ cred-
dormire ➡️ dorm-
Italian verb endings for each tense are added to these root forms of the verb.
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Now, how would you conjugate the present tense of avere, “to have”?
Remove the infinitive ending -ere and add -o!
Avere… ➡️ Av-… ➡️ Io avo?
You may be surprised to learn that the correct conjugation is actually io ho.
This is because avere is an irregular verb. This is also why we will say abbiamo in Italian, and never avo.
That said, let’s look at the present tense conjugation of avere along with its pronunciation.
Present tense conjugation for avere
| io | ho |
| tu | hai |
| lui, lei | ha |
| noi | abbiamo |
| voi | avete |
| loro | hanno |
For example, you could say…
Avete un accendino?
Do you have a lighter?
La squadra ha vinto la finale di campionato.
The team has won the championship final.
Hai visto i miei occhiali?
Have you seen my glasses?
Non ho cani, ma ho tre gatti.
I have no dogs, but I have three cats.
Ho 20 anni.
I am 20 years old.
And that’s the end of our lesson on how to use abbiamo in Italian!
What next?
Now that you’ve seen how to use abbiamo in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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