Learn Italian: Avete le chiavi? - Do you have the keys?

Avete le chiavi?

Do you have the keys?

Breakdown of Avete le chiavi?

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Questions & Answers about Avete le chiavi?

Why does this sentence use avete instead of hai for "do you have"?

Avete is the plural "you" form of the verb avere (to have). You use it when asking two or more people if they have the keys. If you were asking just one person, you would use the singular form, hai.

Where are the words for "Do" and "you" in the Italian sentence?

Italian doesn't use helper words like "do" to ask questions. Also, the subject pronoun "you" (voi) is usually left out because the verb form avete already shows exactly who is doing the action. You simply raise your voice at the end of the sentence to show it is a question!

Why is the feminine article le used with chiavi? Doesn't the "-i" ending mean it's masculine?

Not always! The singular word for key is la chiave, which is feminine. In Italian, nouns that end in -e in the singular change to -i in the plural, regardless of whether they are masculine or feminine. Therefore, la chiave becomes le chiavi.

How do I pronounce the "ch" in chiavi?

In Italian, the letters ch together always make a hard "k" sound, like in the English word "cat". It never makes a soft "ch" sound like in "cheese". So, chiavi is pronounced "KYAH-vee".