Language/French/Grammar/How-to-use-Have

"Avoir" (to have) is one of the most important verbs of the French language and is also used to form compound tenses as an auxiliary. As you dive into this lesson on how to use "have" in French grammar, you might also find it helpful to explore other related topics. For instance, you can learn about possessive determiners in French to better understand how to indicate possession. Additionally, you can clarify the difference between "J'ai eu" and "j'avais" in various contexts. And finally, don't forget to brush up on your French punctuation skills to ensure your written communication is clear and accurate. Bonne chance! 🇫🇷

"Avoir" (present tense)

French	English
J'ai	I have
Tu as	You have
Il / Elle a	He / She has
Nous avons	We have
Vous avez	You have
Ils / Elles ont	They have

The best to learn the "avoir" verb in French is with a few sample sentences to practice. Let's see how to implement it.

• J'ai une sœur

I have a sister

• Elle a un vélo

She has a bike

• Ils ont une maison

They have a house

"Avoir" (past tense)

The past of the verb "avoir" in French

French	English
J'avais	I had
Tu avais	You had
Il / Elle avait	He/She had
nous avions	We had
vous aviez	You had
Ils / Elles avaient	They had

In this verbal form of the past we have to do a little more effort to assimilate the French verb "avoir". Let's see some examples phrases:

• J'avais une maison

I had a house

• Elle avait un chat

She had a cat

• Vous aviez chien

You had a dog

"Avoir" (future tense)

The future of the verb "avoir" in French

French	English
J'aurai	I will have
Tu auras	You will have
Il / Elle aura	He/She will have
nous aurons	We will have
vous aurez	You will have
Ils / Elles auront	They will have

Let's see some examples for future phrases:

• J'aurai une maison

I will have a house

WARNING, do not write aurais with an ending "s". Else, it would be the conditional tense. J'aurais une maison

• Elle aura un chat

She will have a cat

• Vous aurez un chien

You will have a dog

"Avoir" as an auxiliary verb

In French this verb is used a lot as it is present in many of tenses language. It works as an assistant, standing between the personal pronoun and the main verb. Here are some examples.

• j'ai bien mangé

I've eaten well

• Elle a dormi

She has slept

• Vous avez parlé

They have talked

• Ils ont bu ensemble

They have drunk together

If you consider that this page can be improved, don't hesitate to edit it.

Other Lessons

• Singular or plural when a number of individuals have one item each
• Abstract versus concrete nouns
• "C'est" or "Ce sont"
• Adjectives which normally follow the noun
• Direct object and indirect object pronouns differences between English and French
• Much More Little Less
• Easy way of generating the present tense
• L’on VS on
• Agreement of the past participle following “être” with the subject of a passive
• Sentence modifying adverbs