Un 3.1
The verb ‘avoir’
The verb ‘avoir’ is one of the most important verbs in the French language. It serves many purposes and has many forms. Here, we’ll look at its forms in the present tense.
The verb ‘avoir’ – Le verbe ‘avoir’
The verb ‘avoir’ is one of the most frequently-used verbs in the French language. The forms of ‘avoir’, when used on their own, can typically be translated into English with forms of the English verb ‘to have’.
e.g.
|
L’étudiant a un stylo. |
The student has a pen. |
|
Mon cousin a trois sœurs. |
My cousin has three sisters. |
The verb ‘avoir’ is irregular, so its conjugations cannot be predicted based on a pattern.
e.g.
|
Present Tense / Le présent – avoir |
|||
|
j’ |
ai |
nous |
avons |
|
tu |
as |
vous |
avez |
|
il elle on |
a |
ils elles |
ont |
The 1st person singular pronoun ‘je’ undergoes contraction, due to the beginning vowel in ‘ai’.
e.g.
|
J’ai deux filles et un fils. |
I have two daughters and one son. |
The 3rd person plural forms of ‘avoir’ and ‘être’ differ only by a sound that is made after the 3rd person plural pronouns, due to liaison with the ‘avoir’ form.
|
ils ont /il.zɔ̃/ |
ils sont /il.sɔ̃/ |
|
elles ont /ɛl.zɔ̃/ |
elles sont /ɛl.sɔ̃/ |
