{"id":1239,"date":"2010-07-27T04:54:15","date_gmt":"2010-07-27T04:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=1239"},"modified":"2017-10-18T14:38:39","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T12:38:39","slug":"beginner-french-conjugating-avoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/beginner-french-conjugating-avoir\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginner French: Conjugating Avoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonjour mes amis d\u00e9butants!<\/em> (Hello, my beginner friends!) Hichem and I have so much fun exploring French slang, literature and culture<\/strong>, that we sometimes forget that not everyone is ready for tout \u00e7a<\/em> (all that). Starting ce soir <\/em>(tonight), we\u2019ll begin Beginner Posts<\/strong>, especially aimed at les d\u00e9butants<\/em><\/strong> who are just starting to learn French. \u00c7a vous dit? <\/em>Does that sound good to you?<\/p>\n

For the inaugural post, we have <\/strong>to start with this essential verb (hint, hint)…<\/p>\n

Avoir<\/em><\/strong> : \u00a0 to have<\/p>\n

Avoir <\/em>is an irregular verb<\/strong>, meaning its conjugation does not follow a pattern repeated by other verbs (like most verbs ending in \u2013er<\/em><\/strong>, -ir<\/em><\/strong> or \u2013re<\/em><\/strong>. More on this to come!).<\/p>\n

La conjugaison d\u2019<\/em><\/strong>avoir :<\/strong><\/p>\n

J\u2019ai <\/em> : I have<\/p>\n

Tu as <\/em>: You have<\/p>\n

Il a \/ Elle a \/On a <\/em>: He has \/ She has\/ One has (the general \u201cone,\u201d or \u201cthey\u201d)<\/p>\n

Nous avons <\/em>: We have<\/p>\n

Vous avez <\/em>: You have (formal \u00ab\u00a0you\u00a0\u00bb or plural \u00ab\u00a0you\u00a0\u00bb)<\/p>\n

Ils ont \/ Elles ont <\/em>: They have (all male or mixed male\/female) \/ They have (all female)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This might still seem confusing, but it\u2019s enough to get started making des phrases <\/em>(sentences).<\/p>\n

Par exemple <\/em>(for example):<\/strong><\/p>\n

J\u2019ai un fr\u00e8re <\/em>: I have one brother<\/p>\n

Nous avons beaucoup de travail <\/em>: We have a lot of work<\/p>\n

Vous avez un joli sourire <\/em>: You have a pretty smile (formal)<\/p>\n

Tu as un chien <\/em>: You have a dog<\/p>\n

Naturellement<\/em>, avoir <\/em><\/strong>can also be used to form questions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u201cTu as un chien?<\/strong>\u201d <\/em>You have a dog?<\/p>\n

There are other, more complicated (and more formal) ways to form questions, but adding un point d\u2019interrogation <\/em><\/strong>(a question mark) is the simplest.*<\/p>\n

Besides free-styling, there are many phrases that use avoir<\/em><\/strong>, including:<\/p>\n

Avoir faim <\/em>: to be hungry<\/p>\n

Avoir soif<\/em>: to be thirsty<\/p>\n

Avoir sommeil <\/em>: to be sleepy<\/p>\n

Avoir besoin de <\/em>: to need (ex.\u00a0 J\u2019ai besoin de dormir<\/em> : I need to sleep)<\/p>\n

Avoir raison <\/em>: to be right<\/p>\n

Avoir tort <\/em>: to be wrong<\/p>\n

Another convenient use of avoir <\/em>is to describe people<\/strong>, including oneself.<\/p>\n

Par exemple <\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

J\u2019ai les cheveux blondes et les yeux bleus<\/em> : I have blond hair and blue eyes.<\/p>\n

Et vous\u00a0?<\/em><\/strong> And you\u00a0?<\/p>\n

Surtout n\u2019h\u00e9sitez pas de poser des questions<\/strong><\/em>\u2014don\u2019t be afraid to ask questions! J\u2019esp\u00e8re que \u00e7a vous a aid\u00e9 <\/em>(I hope this helped you). \u00c0 la prochaine<\/em>\u2014until next time\u00a0!<\/p>\n

*We can do a whole Beginner\u2019s Post l\u00e0-dessus <\/em>(on that), but the other ways to form questions are:<\/p>\n

Inversion:<\/strong> As-tu<\/strong> un chien? <\/em>: Do you have a dog\u00a0?<\/p>\n

Est-ce que:<\/strong> Est-ce que <\/em><\/strong>tu as un chien? <\/em>: Do you have a dog\u00a0?<\/p>\n

The meaning is the same, but there are subtleties in tone. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Bonjour mes amis d\u00e9butants! (Hello, my beginner friends!) Hichem and I have so much fun exploring French slang, literature and culture, that we sometimes forget that not everyone is ready for tout \u00e7a (all that). Starting ce soir (tonight), we\u2019ll begin Beginner Posts, especially aimed at les d\u00e9butants who are just starting to learn French…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":1241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6,13],"tags":[198,10329,10330,3234,3364],"class_list":["post-1239","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","category-vocabulary","tag-avoir","tag-beginner-post","tag-debutant","tag-irregular-verbs","tag-questions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t