vous avez or vous étes?

Syed abdulA0Kwiziq 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?

Asked 3 years ago
ChrisC1 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.

JimC1 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.

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?

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