Act #4: Movie Set Travel Agency

I. The Verb Avere

The Italian verb avere means to have. In the following table you can see how it is conjugated for each person in the present indicative.

io ho		noi abbiamo
tu hai		voi avete
lui/lei/Lei ha		loro hanno

Examples:

Ho tre cose da fare oggi.		I have three things to do today.
Hanno due gatti a casa.		They have two cats at home.
Abbiamo una visione unica.		We have a unique vision.

II. Idiomatic Expressions with avere

The verb avere is used in many idiomatic Italian expressions. Often it is used where, in English, we would use the verb to be. Have a look at the following list of expressions.

avere ... anni		to be ... years old
avere bisogno di		to need
avere caldo		to be warm/hot
avere freddo		to be cold
avere fretta		to be in a hurry
avere paura		to be afraid
avere sete		to be thirsty
avere sonno		to be sleepy
avere voglia di		to feel like/to want
avere ragione		to be correct
avere torto		to be wrong

In the following examples, the expressions are created by conjugating avere as seen in the table above.

Silvia ha paura del cane.		Silvia is afraid of the dog.
Dammi un po’ d’acqua! Ho sete!		Give me a bit of water! I’m thirsty!
Sono le 11 e abbiamo sonno.		It’s 11 and we’re sleepy.
Ragazzi, avete bisogno di aiuto?		Guys, do you need help?

III. Ce l’ho and Ce li ho/Ce le ho

In Italian the expression ce l’ho (along with its plural form ce li ho and ce le ho) is frequently used; in fact, you’ll hear it all the time! This expression means I’ve got it (or I’ve got them when referring to more than one item).

Take a look at the following exchanges between two people.

A: Hai il libro? B: Sì, ce l’ho.		A: Do you have the book? B: Yes, I’ve got it.
A: Hai la patente? B: Sì, ce l’ho.		A: Do you have your driver’s licence? B: Yes, I’ve got it.
A: Hai i pattini da ghiaccio? B: Sì, ce li ho.		A: Do you have your ice skates? B: Yes, I’ve got them.
A: Hai le matite? B: Sì, ce le ho.		A: Do you have the pencils? B: Yes, I’ve got them.

IV. Dov’è

In a previous Act, we saw the word dove, which means where. We also saw the verb essere and learned the conjugation è (he/she/it is). To ask where is [something], we need to combine these two words.

dove + è = dov’è

dov’è → where is

dove → where

Examples:

Dov’è la pizzeria?		Where is the pizzeria?
Dov’è Maria?		Where is Maria?
Dove vivi?		Where do you live?