vous avez or vous étes?

syed abdul b.A0Kwiziq community member

vous avez or vous étes?

Could you briefly tell me when to use vous avez and vous étes since both mean "you are"?

or can we use either of them is any case?

This question relates to:French lesson "Avoir chaud/froid = To be hot/cold (French Expressions with avoir)"

Asked 4 years ago

Like0Answer2

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Vous avez -- you have
vous êtes -- you are

In French, you say j'ai froid, which literally translates to "I have cold" but actually means "I am cold" in proper English.

Like04 years ago

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I find that it is often useful to think of être as "a state of being". So to take your point about "vous êtes" you probably would be able to understand the full expression by asking yourself "Is the expression describing a state?" If not then probably "avoir" would be more appropriate.

Hope that this may aid your understanding.

Like04 years ago

syed abdul b. asked: