avoir un exam?

Question

Is "avoir un exam" an idiom for passing an exam?  Just wondering about the translation for one of the example sentences.  I was thinking to pass the exam might be more like "Je veux que vous reussissiez tous votre examen?" and that the sentence above using avoir is referring to all taking or having exams?  Merci pour l'aide !

Answer

Salut Lisa, Yes, "avoir un examen" is more likely to be understood as meaning "to pass an exam" than "to take an exam". There's more about that in these lessons:https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/how-to-say-to-pass-an-exam-with-avoir-un-examhttps://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/to-pass-an-exam-versus-passer-un-examen In the case of exams, I find it more intuitive to think of "avoir" meaning "to get" rather than "to have", and the exam as a credential or certificate. Hope that helps!