J’ai, tu as – The Verb AVOIR in French

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Hey, today we’ll briefly revise the conjugation of the verb AVOIR in French and have a look at some examples where it’s used. The basic meaning of the verb is TO HAVE, but it’s also used in lots of expressions where it can’t be translated literally. We’re going to have a look at some of them.

Conjugation of the Verb AVOIR

Présent

Let’s have a look at the conjugation of the verb. Here’s the Present Tense:

j’	ai	nous	avons
tu	as	vous	avez
il	a	ils	ont

Here are some examples. The verb is used in its basic meaning.

J’ai un petit chien.

I have a little dog.

Vous avez une belle maison.

You have a beautiful house.

Combien d’enfants as-tu?

How many children do you have?

Imparfait

Here’s the Imperfect Tense:

j’	avais	nous	avions
tu	avais	vous	aviez
il	avait	ils	avaient

Again some examples:

Nous avions beaucoup de temps.

We had a lot of time.

Il avait une soeur.

He had a sister.

J’avais un ami à Londres.

I had a friend in London.

Passé Composé

Next, let’s have a look at the Past Tense:

j’	ai eu	nous	avons eu
tu	as eu	vous	avez eu
il	a eu	ils	ont eu

Some examples:

Elle a eu une expérience amusante.

She had an amusing experience.

J’ai eu la chance de l’acheter.

I had the chance to buy it.

Tu as eu l’occasion de parler à ton ami?

Did you have the opportunity to talk to your friend?

Futur

Finally, the Future Tense:

j’	aurai	nous	aurons
tu	auras	vous	aurez
il	aura	ils	auront

Here’s how you can use it:

Tu auras ta propre chambre.

You’ll have a room of your own.

Un jour, Pierre aura un vrai emploi.

One day Pierre will have a real job.

J’aurai un petit frère.

I’ll have a little brother.

Other Meanings of the Verb AVOIR

The verb AVOIR is also used in lots of other meanings, where we would use a different verb in English, often the verb TO BE. One example is when talking about your age. In English we say I am ten years old, in French we say J’ai dix ans, which literally means *I have ten years. And there are other meanings as well, have a look at some of the most common ones:

avoir … ans	J’ai quinze ans.	I am fifteen years old.
avoir chaud	Il a chaud.	He’s hot.
avoir froid	Nous avons froid.	We are cold.
avoir faim	J’ai faim.	I am hungry.
avoir soif	Tu as soif.	You are thirsty.

avoir sommeil	Ils ont sommeil.	They are sleepy.
avoir raison	Tu as raison.	You are right.
avoir tort	Il a tort.	He’s wrong.

avoir peur de qch	J’ai peur de ta mère.	I’m afraid of your mother.
avoir envie de qch	Elle a envie de danser.	She feels like dancing.
avoir besoin de qch	On a besoin d’argent.	One needs money.
avoir à faire qch	J’ai à y aller.	I have to go there.
en avoir assez	J’en avais assez.	I was fed up.

As you probably suspect, the list is far from being complete.

INFO

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