Italian · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 6
Quanti anni hai?How old are you?
The course's second verb: avere — ho, hai, ha. It handles possession (ho una casa) and, a surprise for many, age: in Italian you OWN your years. «Ho venticinque anni», literally «I have twenty-five years». Mike and Giulia ask each other straight away: quanti anni hai? The first numbers arrive too (uno–dieci, venti, trenta) — the full system comes in chapter 12 — plus the word giovane.
Dialogue
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Quanti anni hai?— How old are you?
- MikeGiulia, quanti anni hai?Giulia, how old are you?
- GiuliaHo ventidue anni. E tu?I'm twenty-two. And you?
- MikeHo venticinque anni! E Marco, quanti anni ha?I'm twenty-five! And Marco — how old is he?
- GiuliaMarco ha trent'anni.Marco is thirty.
- MikeTrenta? Marco è giovane!Thirty? Marco is young!
Dialogue
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Ho, hai, ha
- GiuliaMarco, tu hai una casa piccola?Marco, do you have a small house?
- MarcoSì, ho una casa piccola e un libro. E tu?Yes, I have a small house and one book. And you?
- GiuliaHo ventidue anni e ho molto tempo: sono giovane!I'm twenty-two and I have lots of time: I'm young!
- MarcoE io ho trent'anni… E la professoressa Sofia, quanti anni ha?And I'm thirty… And professoressa Sofia — how old is she?
- GiuliaMarco! No! Scusi, professoressa!Marco! No! Sorry, professoressa!
Vocabulary
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- avere
verbto have (possession AND age)
- ho
verbI have
- hai
verbyou have
- ha
verb(he/she/it) has (the h is written, never spoken — ha sounds like a)
- un anno / gli anni
n.m.a year / the years (age lives in this word: ho venti anni)
- quanti / quante
adjectivehow many (m/f — quanti anni?)
- quanti anni hai?
phrasehow old are you? (lit. how many years do you have?)
- uno
numeralone
- due
numeraltwo
- tre
numeralthree
- quattro
numeralfour
- cinque
numeralfive
- sei
numeralsix — same letters as sei «you are»; the verb comes with a person, the number with a noun
- sette
numeralseven
- otto
numeraleight
- nove
numeralnine
- dieci
numeralten
- venti
numeraltwenty (ventidue = venti + due; the system in chapter 12)
- trenta
numeralthirty (trent'anni — squeezed before anni)
- giovane
adjectiveyoung (an -e adjective: ONE form for m and f)
- la professoressa
n.f.the teacher (a title too: professoressa Sofia)
Grammar
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avere: ho, hai, ha — and years are had
Explanation
The second essential verb: avere. In the singular: ho, hai, ha — and remember from chapter 4 that the h is never pronounced: ho sounds «o», ha sounds «a». There is no accent mark: the h-spelling is what tells ha (verb) from a (preposition). First job: possession — Ho una casa. Hai un libro? Marco ha un caffè. Second job, the surprising one: AGE. In Italian you are not your years: you HAVE them. Quanti anni hai? — Ho venticinque anni. Always with the word anni said in full. For numbers, uno–dieci plus venti and trenta are enough today; the full system (undici, cinquanta, cento…) arrives in chapter 12. And note giovane: an -e adjective, one single form for masculine and feminine — Marco è giovane, Giulia è giovane.
Examples
- Ho una casa. Hai un libro? Marco ha un caffè.I have a house. Do you have a book? Marco has a coffee.
- Quanti anni hai? Ho venticinque anni.How old are you? I'm twenty-five.
- Giulia ha ventidue anni: è giovane.Giulia is twenty-two: she's young.
- ho / o · ha / aI have / or · he/she has / to
- Ho venticinque anni.I'm twenty-five.
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