Essere and avere are the two most frequent verbs in Italian — and their subjunctives appear constantly, both as main verbs and as the auxiliaries that build every compound subjunctive form you'll ever need. Spero che sia vero, penso che abbia ragione, non credo che siano già arrivati, è strano che abbia detto questo — these patterns are the bread and butter of educated Italian. This page is a focused drill on the two paradigms and the situations where they appear most.
Essere — the conjugation
| Person | Form | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| che io | sia | sìa |
| che tu | sia | sìa |
| che lui / lei | sia | sìa |
| che noi | siamo | siàmo |
| che voi | siate | siàte |
| che loro | siano | sìano |
Three things to notice. First: the three singular persons are all sia — same form, no morphological distinction. Second: the loro form is siano, three syllables, stressed on the first (sì-a-no), exactly like the parallel pattern in -ere/-ire verbs. Third: the noi form siamo happens to be identical to the indicative siamo — the only essere form shared between the two moods.
Penso che tu sia bravo.
I think you're talented.
Voglio che Marco sia qui per le otto.
I want Marco to be here by eight.
È strano che siano già a casa.
It's strange that they're already home.
Spero che siate contenti del regalo.
I hope you (plural) are happy with the gift.
Avere — the conjugation
| Person | Form | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| che io | abbia | àbbia |
| che tu | abbia | àbbia |
| che lui / lei | abbia | àbbia |
| che noi | abbiamo | abbiàmo |
| che voi | abbiate | abbiàte |
| che loro | abbiano | àbbiano |
The double bb is essential — it's not optional, and it's not a typo: abbia is pronounced /ÀB-bya/ with a clear geminate. Drop one b and you've spelled the verb wrong.
The avere subjunctive is more transparent than essere because it follows the io-form rule of the previous page: the indicative io form is ho, but historically the subjunctive was built on the older Latin stem habe-, which gives the modern abbi-. You can think of the form as effectively an irregular outlier with a memorable shape.
Spero che abbia ragione.
I hope he/she is right. (literally: has reason)
Credo che abbiamo tempo per un caffè.
I think we have time for a coffee.
Voglio che tu abbia tutto quello di cui hai bisogno.
I want you to have everything you need.
Mi sembra che abbiano fame.
They seem hungry to me. (literally: it seems to me they have hunger)
The auxiliary role: every compound subjunctive
The reason these two verbs deserve their own page is that they don't only appear as main verbs — they are the auxiliaries that build every compound subjunctive in Italian. Specifically:
- Congiuntivo passato (subjunctive perfect): abbia parlato, sia andato/a
- Congiuntivo trapassato (subjunctive pluperfect): avessi parlato, fossi andato/a
The first of these is constant in everyday speech; the second is essential in narrative and hypothetical contexts. Both are built on the subjunctives you've just learned.
Penso che Maria sia andata al mercato.
I think Maria went to the market.
Spero che abbiate mangiato qualcosa prima di venire.
I hope you (plural) ate something before coming.
È possibile che siano partiti senza salutare.
It's possible they left without saying goodbye.
Dubito che abbia capito la domanda.
I doubt he/she understood the question.
The agreement rules are the same as for the passato prossimo: essere takes a participle that agrees in gender and number with the subject; avere takes an invariable participle (unless preceded by a direct-object pronoun, in which case the participle agrees with that pronoun).
Fixed phrases worth recognizing
Italian preserves a small number of subjunctive forms in fixed expressions. They're worth knowing because you'll meet them in everything from political speech to old films.
Sia chiaro: non è colpa mia.
Let it be clear: it's not my fault.
Sia detto fra noi, non mi piace.
Just between us, I don't like it. (literally: let it be said between us)
Sia per il bene di tutti.
May it be for everyone's good.
Che sia maledetto chi ha rubato la macchina!
Cursed be whoever stole the car!
Abbiate pazienza.
Have patience. (formal exhortation)
These are subjunctive independent uses — the che is sometimes elided, and the form expresses a wish or command without a triggering main clause. They're remnants of the older system where the subjunctive could stand on its own. In modern Italian they survive as set phrases.
"Sia... sia..." — a different beast
A separate but related construction worth recognizing: the correlative sia... sia... (sometimes sia che... sia che...) means "both... and..." or "whether... or..." It uses the same form sia but functions as a conjunction, not a verb. The form is fixed — it doesn't inflect for person.
Verrà sia Marco sia Luca.
Both Marco and Luca will come.
Sia che tu voglia sia che tu non voglia, succederà.
Whether you want it or not, it'll happen.
Mi piacciono sia il caffè sia il tè.
I like both coffee and tea.
Don't confuse this with the verbal sia of spero che sia vero. They look identical, but the correlative use is grammaticalized: it introduces alternatives or pairs and is invariable.
A short comparison drill — sia versus è
The most common error English speakers make is using the indicative è (it is) where the standard requires the subjunctive sia (it be). Train your ear with these contrasting pairs.
So che è qui.
I know he's here. (certainty → indicative)
Spero che sia qui.
I hope he's here. (wish → subjunctive)
È vero che è in ritardo.
It's true he's late. (factual statement → indicative)
È strano che sia in ritardo.
It's strange he's late. (emotional reaction → subjunctive)
Penso che sia il momento giusto.
I think it's the right moment. (opinion → subjunctive)
Sono certo che è il momento giusto.
I'm certain it's the right moment. (certainty → indicative)
The contrast crystallizes the whole logic: indicative for what you assert as fact, subjunctive for what you frame as filtered through your stance toward it.
Common mistakes
❌ Penso che è bravo.
Stigmatized — penso che triggers the subjunctive in standard Italian.
✅ Penso che sia bravo.
Correct — opinion verbs require the subjunctive.
❌ Spero che ha ragione.
Wrong — sperare triggers the subjunctive.
✅ Spero che abbia ragione.
Correct — abbia is the subjunctive of avere.
❌ Credo che hai capito.
Wrong — credere takes the subjunctive, and avere becomes abbia in the singular.
✅ Credo che tu abbia capito.
Correct — and notice the subject pronoun retained for clarity.
❌ Voglio che siate tutti felice.
Wrong — felice should agree in number: felici (plural).
✅ Voglio che siate tutti felici.
Correct — siate is voi plural, so the predicate adjective is plural too.
❌ Bisogna che abia pazienza.
Wrong — single b. The form is abbia, with double b.
✅ Bisogna che abbia pazienza.
Correct — geminate -bb- is essential and pronounced.
❌ Penso che siamo bravi (when you mean 'I think they're good').
Wrong — siamo is the noi form. For loro you need siano.
✅ Penso che siano bravi.
Correct — siano is the third-person plural of essere subjunctive.
Key takeaways
The subjunctive of essere is sia, sia, sia, siamo, siate, siano. The subjunctive of avere is abbia, abbia, abbia, abbiamo, abbiate, abbiano. These twelve forms are the most-used subjunctive forms in the entire language.
Both verbs serve dual roles: as main verbs in expressions like spero che sia vero and credo che abbia ragione, and as the auxiliaries that build every compound subjunctive in Italian. Without them, the perfect and pluperfect subjunctives don't exist.
Pay attention to the orthography: abbia has two b's; sia has stress on the first vowel (sì-a, not si-à); the loro forms (siano, abbiano) stress the first syllable, not the ending — same rizotonic pattern as in the indicative.
Drill these to instant recall. From here, the overview connects them to the trigger system, and you can build on them to master the perfect, imperfect, and pluperfect subjunctives later.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Il Congiuntivo: OverviewB1 — The Italian subjunctive is a living mood, not a textbook curiosity — it expresses doubt, opinion, emotion, and desire, and you cannot sound educated in Italian without it. Here's the full landscape: tenses, triggers, and where to start.
- Congiuntivo Presente: Regular VerbsB1 — The regular present subjunctive in Italian — endings, models for all four conjugation classes, and the singular fact about it that explains why Italians keep their subject pronouns when they normally drop them.
- Congiuntivo Presente: Irregular VerbsB1 — Italian's irregular present subjunctives are not random — almost every one is built on the first-person singular of the indicative. Learn the rule and you'll never have to memorize an irregular subjunctive again.
- Presente: Essere (to be)A1 — How to conjugate essere — the most important irregular verb in Italian — and how to navigate the situations where Italian uses avere where English uses 'to be'.
- Presente: Avere (to have)A1 — How to conjugate avere in the present indicative — its silent h, its many idiomatic uses for states English expresses with 'to be,' and its role as the default auxiliary in compound tenses.