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 Foreign Language Courses / Basic French: Help & Review / Basic French Verbs

Avoir in French: Conjugation, Tenses & Examples

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Richard Vu
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Kevin Newton
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 Basic French: Help & Review
16 chapters | 272 lessons
Learn about the French verb avoir, meaning "to have", and examine its conjugations. Show how it is
conjugated as an irregular verb in present, past, and future. Updated: 08/29/2022 Aller Conjugation

Avoir in French: Conjugation & Meaning 

Table of Contents
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 The Verb Avoir  Avoir in Conversation Etre in French:
Conjugation & Meaning
 Conjugation of the Verb Avoir  Lesson Summary
Avoir in Conversation Faire in French: Conjugation & Meaning

The Verb Avoir Jouer: Conjugation & De!nition

Avoir is the French word that means "to have." Avoir is an essential French verb that is used often and in French Verb Voir Conjugation
many contexts. It is used similarly to the way it is in English but there are also di!erent uses of avoir in
French. These rules will be discussed with examples. In English, the de"nition of "to have" is to possess, to Savoir Conjugation
own, or to hold something. Also, it could be to experience or undergo something. It has a similar meaning
and implication in French. However, it should be noted that languages do not always translate directly and Aimer in French: Conjugation &
sometimes meanings change based on context and syntax, and it depends on the people in the Meaning

conversation.
Vouloir Conjugation & Translation

Conjugation of the Verb Avoir Aider: De!nition & Conjugation

To understand how avoir or "to have" is used in sentences, one must understand that the verb is Apprecier: De!nition, Conjugation &
conjugated to work accordingly with the pronoun. The pronouns are I, you, he, she, we, you (plural), they Synonyms
(masculine), and they (feminine). Similarly to all other verbs, avoir can be used in the present tense, the
past tense, the past imperfect tense, and the future tense. In French, avoir is also used as an auxiliary to Apprendre: De!nition & Conjugation

form the past tense conjugation.

Arreter Conjugation

Boire: De!nition & Conjugation

Present Tense
Chanter in French: De!nition &
Conjugation
Present Tense Conjugation of avoir

Pronoun Conjugation Pronunciation Chercher: De!nition & Conjugation

Je -> J' (I) ai Jay Choisir: De!nition & Conjugation

Tu (you - singular) as Tuw ah

Il (he) a Eel ah

Elle (she) a El ah

Nous (we) avons Nooz ah-vohn

Vous (you - plural or formal) avez Vooz ah-vay

Ils (they - masculine) ont Eelz ohn

Elles (they - feminine) ont Elz ohn

The present tense is the simplest conjugation among all the tenses. It only requires the changes made to
the verb that is applied according to the pronoun.

A person can say "I have co!ee in the morning. Do you have co!ee, too?" which is J'ai un café le matin. Tu
as un café aussi?

Another example in the present tense is "We have everything, and we are ready for the trip!" In French,
this would translate as Nous avons tout et nous sommes prêts pour le voyage!

"Does she have a pencil? No, but those boys have a pencil" would be Elle a un crayon? Non, mais les garçons
ont un crayon.

Past Tense
For the past tense or passé composé, there must be an auxiliary to complete the form. The auxiliary is a
conjugation of the verbs "to have" or "to be", être, in the present tense. Almost all verbs use the auxiliary
"to have" while "to be" is only used for verbs that discuss a movement. These movement verbs are to go,
to descend, to go up, to stop, to enter, to arrive, to come, and many more.

To demonstrate, the main verb is "to have" which will be in the past participle eu. Since "to have" is not a
movement verb, it would use the auxiliary "to have" conjugated in the present tense. An example sentence
would be La semaine passé, elle a eu une grande pomme which means "Last week, she had a big apple" in
English. Elle a eu shows the sentence structure of pronoun (elle), auxiliary (present tense "to have"), and
past participle (eu).

Past Tense Conjugation of avoir

Pronoun Auxiliary Past Participle

J' ai eu

Tu as eu

Il a eu

Elle a eu

Nous avons eu

Vous avez eu

Ils ont eu

Elles ont eu
"Yesterday, my friends had a lot of water bottles from the store" is Hier, mes amis ont eu beaucoup des
bouteilles d'eau du marché in French.

"Last summer, my family and I had a big party for grandma's birthday" is L'été dernier, ma famille et moi
avons eu une grande fête pour l'anniversaire de grand-mère in French.

"Did you have a chance to play in yesterday's game?" would be Tu as eu une chance de jouer dans le match
d'hier in French.

In addition, avoir can be used in the imperfect tense which can be di$cult to distinguish in English. The
past tense is used to describe something that happened at an exact moment in the past. It is de"nite. On
the other hand, the imperfect describes what was going on, a state of being, or a habit of the past. This is
how it can sometimes be di$cult to distinguish. Sometimes the di!erences are not as clear, and it just
depends on the context.

Imperfect Tense Conjugation of avoir

Pronoun Conjugation

J' avais

Tu avais

Il avait

Elle avait

Nous avions

Vous aviez

Ils avaient

Elles avaient
The imperfect is used for habits. For example, Chaque matin, j'avais un café means "Each morning, I had a
co!ee."

It is also used to describe a state of being such as "When she was 20, she lived downtown." In French, this
would be Quand elle avait 20 ans, elle habitait au centre-ville.

Vous aviez les sentiments positifs de ses voyages means "You had positive feelings of your trip."

Future Tense
The conjugation of verbs in the future tense is adding endings to the in"nitive verb. The endings are
based on the pronouns: ai, as, a, ons, ez, and ont. For example, parler (to talk) with the pronoun je would be
je parlerai. The future tense ending is added to the end of the verb.

However, avoir is an irregular verb that is conjugated to aur. The ending is added after aur.

Future Tense Conjugation of avoir

Pronoun Conjugation

J' aurai

Tu auras

Il aura

Elle aura

Nous aurons

Vous aurez

Ils auront

Elles auront
"Tomorrow, they will have a car to drive" would be Demain, ils auront une voiture pour conduire.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is avoir in passé composé?

Avoir in passé composé, meaning the past tense, is "had." It is created by conjugating avoir in present
tense and adding the past participle eu. The conjugations are:

J'ai eu
Tu as eu
Il/elle a eu
Nous avons eu
Vous avez eu
Ils/elles ont eu

What's the conjugation of avoir?

The conjugation of avoir in the present tense is dependent on the pronouns

I
You (singular)
He/she
We
You (plural)
They (masculine, feminine)

Thus, it would be conjugated as:

J'ai
Tu as
Il/elle a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/elles ont

What is the meaning of avoir and when is it used?

Avoir is a French word that means "to have." It means to possess, to own, to hold. Avoir can be used in
all tenses including present, past, imperfect, and future.

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Avoir in French | Conjugation, Tenses & Examples

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