Le Verbe Avoir

📘 Part 1: What Is “Avoir”?

Avoir means “to have,” but in French, it’s so much more than just showing ownership—it expresses age, feelings, needs, forms compound tenses, and powers dozens of idiomatic expressions.

French learners often start with “avoir” for good reason: mastering it unlocks an entire dimension of natural conversation.

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🔤 Part 2: Present Tense Conjugation

Let’s begin with its present-tense form:

Subject Pronoun	Avoir (present)	English Equivalent
Je	ai	I have
Tu	as	You have (informal)
Il / Elle / On	a	He/She/One has
Nous	avons	We have
Vous	avez	You have (formal/plural)
Ils / Elles	ont	They have

✅ Common sentence starters:

• J’ai une question... (I have a question...)
• Tu as faim ? (Are you hungry?)

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🧳 Part 3: Expressing Possession

This is avoir’s most straightforward use: saying someone owns, holds, or possesses something.

✨ Examples

• Nous avons une maison à la campagne. — We have a house in the countryside.
• Ils ont deux enfants. — They have two children.
• Elle a beaucoup d’amis. — She has many friends.

📌 Grammar Tips:

• Use de/d’ instead of an article in negative statements: ➤ Je n’ai pas de voiture. (I don’t have a car.)

• Use des for plural indefinite objects: ➤ Il a des idées brillantes. (He has brilliant ideas.)

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🧊 Part 4: Talking About Physical Sensations

French uses avoir to talk about feelings that English expresses with "to be." This means that you "have" cold, heat, hunger, and thirst—not "are."

✨ Examples

• J’ai froid / chaud. — I’m cold / hot.
• Tu as faim ? — Are you hungry?
• Elle a soif. — She’s thirsty.
• Nous avons sommeil. — We’re sleepy.

📌 Common Mistake to Avoid:
Do NOT say Je suis faim. It’s incorrect in French!
✅ Say: J’ai faim.

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🎂 Part 5: Expressing Age

You don’t “be” years old in French—you “have” them.

✨ Examples

• J’ai 25 ans. — I am 25 years old.
• Mon frère a dix ans. — My brother is ten.

📌 In French culture, age is very frequently discussed, especially in introductions:

• Quel âge as-tu ? — How old are you?
• J’ai trente-cinq ans. — I’m thirty-five.

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🧠 Part 6: Idiomatic Expressions with Avoir

French is rich in idiomatic expressions that rely on avoir.

Expression	Meaning	Example Sentence
avoir peur	to be afraid	Il a peur des araignées.
avoir envie de	to want / feel like	J’ai envie de danser.
avoir besoin de	to need	Tu as besoin d’aide ?
avoir l’air	to seem / look like	Elle a l’air fatiguée.
avoir le temps	to have time	Je n’ai pas le temps aujourd’hui.
avoir lieu	to take place	La réunion a lieu demain.
avoir raison / tort	to be right / wrong	Vous avez raison.

📌 Many of these don’t translate word-for-word into English, so learning them as chunks helps achieve fluency.

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🛠️ Part 7: Avoir as an Auxiliary Verb

In compound tenses like the passé composé (past tense), avoir becomes a helper verb.

✨ Structure

Subject + avoir (present) + past participle

Verb	Example Sentence	Meaning
parler	J’ai parlé avec lui.	I spoke with him.
finir	Ils ont fini le travail.	They finished the work.
acheter	Nous avons acheté des pommes.	We bought apples.

📌 Most French verbs use avoir in compound tenses, except reflexive and movement verbs (which use être).

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❌ Part 8: Negative Sentences with Avoir

Structure:
ne + avoir + pas + noun

✨ Examples

• Je n’ai pas de stylo. — I don’t have a pen.
• Il n’a pas d’argent. — He doesn’t have any money.
• Nous n’avons pas le temps. — We don’t have time.

📌 When negating possession, drop the article (un, une, des) and use de/de la.

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❓ Part 9: Questions with Avoir

There are several ways to ask questions with avoir:

1. Standard (Rising tone):

Tu as des frères ? — You have brothers?

2. Est-ce que format:

Est-ce que vous avez une voiture ? — Do you have a car?

3. Inversion format:

As-tu une idée ? — Do you have an idea?

📌 Use qu’est-ce que to ask “What do you have”:
Qu’est-ce que tu as ? — What do you have?

🗣️ Part 10: Sample Dialogue

Louise: Tu as le livre de français ?
EYOSIAS: Non, je n’ai pas le livre.
Louise: Tu as besoin d’un nouveau stylo ?
EYOSIAS: Oui ! J’ai envie d’écrire maintenant.