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Have a French Verb
Avoir is one of the two most important French verbs (être is the other one) and has irregular conjugations in just about every tense and mood. Avoir literally means "to have," but also serves an an auxiliary verb and is found in many idiomatic expressions.
Avoir = to have, possess
| J’ai une voiture bleue. | I have a blue car. | |
| As-tu un numéro portable ? | Do you have a cell phone number? |
Avoir = to have, be experiencing, be suffering from
| J’ai mal au dos. | I have a backache. | |
| Il a la grippe. | He has the flu. |
Avoir = to have, dupe, con
| J’ai été eu. | I’ve been had. | |
| Je t’ai bien eu ! | I got you! |
Avoir = auxiliary verb
For the vast majority of French verbs, avoir serves as the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses and moods.
| Nous avons déjà mangé. | We’ve already eaten. | |
| Auras-tu fini avant midi ? | Will you have finished before noon? | |
| S’il avait vendu la voiture, il vous auriez remboursé. | If he’d sold the car, he would have reimbursed you. |
Avoir = to be
In more than a dozen common phrases, avoir is equivalent to "be" in English.
| avoir __ ans | to be __ (years old) | |
| avoir chaud | to be hot | |
| avoir de la chance | to be lucky | |
| avoir faim | to be hungry | |
| avoir froid | to be cold | |
| avoir honte | to be ashamed | |
| avoir l’habitude de | to be in the habit of, used to | |
| avoir mal au cÅ“ur | to be sick to one’s stomach | |
| avoir mal de mer | to be seasick | |
| avoir __ mètres (de haut, de long) | to be __ meters (high, long) | |
| avoir peur | to be afraid | |
| avoir raison | to be right | |
| avoir soif | to be thirsty | |
| avoir sommeil | to be sleepy | |
| avoir tort | to be wrong | |
| il y a | there is, there are |
Avoir in idiomatic expressions
Avoir is also found in dozens of idiomatic expressions, including
- avoir du chien (informal) – to be desirable
- avoir le cafard (informal) – to feel low, blue
- avoir un petit creux (informal) – to be a little hungry
- n’avoir rien à voir avec/dans – to have nothing to do with
Avoir in action
Do these French expressions need the subjunctive?
Related lessons
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