Learn Italian: Il medico ha ragione, vero? - The doctor is right, isn't he?

Yes! In Italian, you don't use the verb "to be" to say someone is right. Instead, you use avere (to have) + ragione (reason). So, il medico ha ragione literally translates to "the doctor has reason", which is how Italians express that someone is right.

Why do we use ha here instead of ho or hanno?

Ha is the "he/she/it" form of the verb avere. Since the subject is il medico (the doctor), which is a "he" or "she" (third-person singular), we use ha. If you wanted to say that you yourself are right, you would use the "I" form: ho ragione.

Is the "h" in ha pronounced?

No, the "h" is completely silent in Italian. You pronounce ha exactly like the vowel "a". The silent "h" is only there in the spelling to show it is a form of the verb avere and not the little connecting word a (which means "to" or "at").

How does vero turn into "isn't he?" in the translation?

The word vero literally means "true". When you put it at the end of a statement with a question mark, it acts as a quick tag question. It is the simple Italian equivalent of asking "..., right?", "..., isn't it?", or "..., isn't he?".