Meaning and Usage
The French verb avoir means to have and is one of the most essential and commonly used verbs in French. It is used to express possession, age, certain states and emotions, and serves as an auxiliary verb for forming compound tenses such as the passé composé.
Conjugations
The verb avoir is irregular, so its conjugations do not follow the regular patterns. Below is the present tense conjugation, which is often the most important to learn initially.
| French Pronoun | French Conjugation | English Conjugation | French Example | English Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | ai | I have | J'ai un chien. | I have a dog. |
| tu | as | you have (informal) | Tu as un livre. | You have a book. |
| il / elle / on | a | he/she/one has | Elle a une voiture. | She has a car. |
| nous | avons | we have | Nous avons une maison. | We have a house. |
| vous | avez | you have (formal/plural) | Vous avez des questions. | You have questions. |
| ils / elles | ont | they have | Ils ont un problème. | They have a problem. |
Other Tenses Overview
Besides the present, avoir is irregular in many other tenses such as the imperfect (avais), future (aurai), subjunctive (aie), and past participle (eu). Mastery of these forms is crucial as avoir is also used with many compound verb tenses.
Key Expressions with Avoir
There are many expressions in French using avoir that do not literally mean to have but instead relate to emotions, states, or sensations, including:
- avoir faim (to be hungry)
- avoir soif (to be thirsty)
- avoir chaud/froid (to be hot/cold)
- avoir peur (to be afraid)
- avoir raison/tort (to be right/wrong)
- avoir besoin de (to need)
These are idiomatic and need to be memorized as part of everyday French vocabulary.
