abbiamo

Abbiamo is the first-person plural present indicative form of the Italian verb avere, meaning “to have.” It is one of the most common verbs in Italian and functions both as a main verb expressing possession and as an auxiliary in compound tenses.

As a main verb, abbiamo conveys possession or existence of qualities, as in examples like “Abbiamo una casa” (We have a house) or “Abbiamo fame” (We are hungry). It can also appear in idiomatic expressions such as “Abbiamo tempo” (We have time) or “Abbiamo da fare” (We have things to do). In ordinary speech, the subject noi is often implied by the verb ending, though the pronoun can be used for emphasis.

As an auxiliary, abbiamo is used to form compound tenses with a past participle, most notably the passato prossimo: “Abbiamo mangiato” (We have eaten / We ate). The agreement of the past participle with preceding direct objects follows the standard Italian rules for avere: the participle usually does not change when the object comes after the verb, but it can show gender and number agreement if the direct object precedes the participle (for example, “Le abbiamo mangiate” when referring to feminine plural objects).

Etymology and forms: Abbiamo derives from the verb avere, which comes from Latin habēre. The form is the contemporary Italian 1st person plural in the present tense, alongside other forms of avere such as ho, hai, ha, avete, hanno.

See also: Avere (verb) for a full description of the base verb, its conjugation, and its uses.