What does avoir mean

In fact, it works for all four subjonctif moods:. The subjunctive mood is used to express subjective or uncertain actions and ideas. Have a look at the following example:. Je veux que tu aies confiance en moi. If not, check out this guide to the French verb vouloir. You can also learn about other verbs with the -oir ending in the comprehensive guide to the -oir verb conjugations.

Il faut que nous ayons une vision. You can find more expressions that require the French subjunctive mood here. Je ne pense pas que vous ayez compris. I have sneaked in some of them into this article already. Here are some more that you should learn by heart:. Learning the forms in pairs makes the task much easier.

This very helpful article includes a good explanation of these rules, as well as a number of examples. The agreement rules with avoir may seem a bit confusing — and to be perfectly honest, I still forget about them from time to time, even after years of speaking and living in France. The best thing to do is to keep practicing and try to stay aware of these exceptions. See if you can spot them in things you read in French. But things get a bit tricky again here: some verbs that are usually not reflexive, can become reflexive depending on the context.

For example, the verb dire is conjugated with avoir. And as you practice and get to know French better, deciding when or if you need to make a verb reflexive will become, well, a reflex. As I wrote in the introduction, avoir is also important because it makes up many essential French phrases. Here are the ones you absolutely must know, in no particular order:.

Examples: Il y a une fourmi sur la table. There are a lot of ants on the table! As with all of the phrases on this list, the verb does change tense, though. There will be a lot of people at the party tonight. This was probably one of the first statements you learned to say in French. You can use this with a noun or with the infinitive of a verb. His dog needs to run. As with the previous example, you can use this phrase with a noun or with the infinitive of a verb. I want some chocolate. I want to rest a little.

Note that, like in English, this phrase can also be used to talk about sexual desire. Example: «Merci pour le sandwich! I was so hungry! Do you want some water? Can we put on the A. For example: Attention! Les patates sont chaudes, laisse-les refroidir.

Watch out! The potatoes are too hot, let them cool off. If the air around you feels hot or cold, use faire , as you would to describe most weather- or atmosphere-related phenomenon in French. Be careful to never say that a person is hot or cold. His forehead is hot, he might have a fever. You can use this as a standalone statement: Ils ont peur.

I think I caught the flu! My head hurts, my stomach hurts…everything hurts! Example : Si tu me dis que les chats sont plus adorables que les chiens, je dirai que tu as raison, mais ce chien dira que tu as tort!

There are countless expressions with avoir. Here are some of the avoir expressions that I hear the most along with those from the previous list, of course here in Paris.

This phrase is extremely common in France today, but it can seem a bit confusing to non-native speakers. Studying the grammar of a foreign language is harder for those who are unfamiliar with the grammar of their own language Check out the new acclaimed Descriptive Grammar of English from Amazon. European data protection notice. We use cookies solely for audience statistics and to enable social media and a few advertisements.

To remove this message, click or get more details. Preterite I had. Pluperfect I'd had. Future perfect I will have had.

Conditional I would have. Past conditional I would have had. Tenses subjunctive :. Present may have.