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Essere and Avere — To Be and To Have

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The two verbs every Italian sentence needs: full conjugations, c'è and ci sono, and negation with non.

Essere — to be

The verb essere is irregular and essential: io sono, tu sei, lui/lei è, noi siamo, voi siete, loro sono. It identifies and describes: Sono Anna (I am Anna), La casa è grande (the house is big). Subject pronouns (io, tu…) are usually dropped — the ending carries the meaning — so Sono stanca alone means "I am tired" (woman speaking). Nationalities and professions drop the article: È medico (he/she is a doctor).

Avere — to have, and age

Avere conjugates as io ho, tu hai, lui/lei ha, noi abbiamo, voi avete, loro hanno. It expresses possession (Ho una macchina — I have a car) and, as across southern Europe, hunger, thirst, fear and cold: Ho fame (I am hungry), Ho paura (I am afraid). Age uses avere: Ho vent'anni (I am twenty — literally "I have twenty years").

C'è and ci sono — there is / there are

Existence uses essere with ci: c'è (there is) for singular, ci sono (there are) for plural. C'è un bar qui vicino? (is there a bar nearby?), Ci sono due musei (there are two museums). Note the apostrophe in c'è (ci + è) and the accent on è — e without the accent means "and", a different word entirely.

Negation with non

Italian negates with a single non before the verb: Non parlo italiano (I don't speak Italian), Non ho fame (I am not hungry). Questions need no inversion and no helper — intonation alone turns Parli inglese? from statement to question. Answer yes with sì, no with no, and soften refusals with mi dispiace (I'm sorry).

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