Être (to be) and Avoir (to have) are the most common French verbs. This is why you have to learn them first. You will find être and avoir everywhere : as linking verbs, in idiomatic expressions, in descriptions and as helping verbs in compound tenses (auxiliary) !
Like many French verbs être and avoir are irregular, with special conjugations :
|
être je suis I am tu es you are il/elle/on est he/she/one is nous sommes we are vous êtes you are Ils/elles sont they are |
avoir j’ai I have tu as you have il/elle/on a he/she/one has nous avons we have vous avez you have ils/elles ont they have |
Expressions with être
Many expressions use the verb être, these expressions won’t be too hard for you to learn because they are usually close to the English equivalent.
| être à l’heure
être en retard être en avance être de retour être d’accord (avec) être en coton/en cuir/en or etc. être en train de/d’ + infinitif être en vacances être sur le point de/d’ + infinitif être prêt(e) à + infinitif |
to be on time
to be late to be early to be back to agree (with) to be made of cotton/leather/gold etc. to be (in the midst of) doing something to be on vacation to be about (to do something) to be ready (to do something) |
To use these expressions it’s really easy, you just have to conjugate the verb être , the rest doesn’t change :
Je suis à l’heure (I’m on time)
Il est de retour de l’école (he’s back from school)
Nous sommes en vacances (we are on vacation)
Je suis en train de regarder la télé (I’m in the midst of watching TV/I’m watching TV)
Ils sont sur le point de partir (they’re about to leave)
Expressions with avoir
As in English, avoir (to have) usually expresses ownership or possession : j’ai un chien (I have a dog), il a beaucoup d’amis (he has a lot of friends). But the verb avoir is also used in many idiomatic expressions, many ideas conveyed with expressions using avoir relate to feelings or sensations. The difficulty for you here, is that those expressions often have English equivalent that use the verb to be and not to have so first it’ll seem a bit confusing but don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.
| avoir . . . ans
avoir froid avoir chaud avoir soif avoir faim avoir besoin de avoir sommeil avoir envie de avoir peur (de) |
to be . . . years old
to be cold to be warm to be thirsty to be hungry to need (to) to be sleepy to feel like to be afraid (of) |
Quel âge as-tu ? J’ai 29 ans. How old are you ? I’m 29 years old.
Les enfants ont froid ! The children are cold !
Vous avez soif ? Are you thirsty ?
J’ai besoin de ton aide ! I need your help !
Il a peur des clowns. He’s afraid of clowns.
So as you probably noticed, in French we are not a certain age but we “have” a certain age, we are not thirsty but we “have” thirst, we are not afraid but we “have” fear etc.
Il y a … (there is/there are)
Avoir is also used with the expression il y a (there is or there are) for pointing out people, ideas or objects. Il y a is invariable , it doesn’t change in the plural, so it means that we use il y a for both there is and there are.
Il y a un chien dans le jardin ! There is a dog in the garden !
Il y a des chiens dans le jardin ! There are dogs in the garden !
The negative of il y a is il n’y a pas de/d’, followed by a singular or plural nouns.
Il n’y a pas de fleurs dans le parc. There aren’t any flowers in the park.
Il n’y a pas de touristes ici. There are no tourists here.
Il n’y a pas de problème ! There is no problem !