Look at these sentences:
J'ai eu trois cadeaux pour mon anniversaire.
I had three presents for my birthday.
As-tu eu mon message?
Did you have my message?
Nous avons tous eu la varicelle.
We all had chickenpox.
In Le Passé Composé (conversational past), the verb "avoir" (to have) has an irregular past participle: "eu", and works with 'avoir' as an auxiliary:
| j'ai eu | I had/have had |
| tu as eu | you had/have had (singular-familiar form) |
| il/elle/on a eu | he/she/we/one/people had/has had |
| nous avons eu | we had/have had |
| vous avez eu | you had/have had |
| ils/elles ont eu | They had/have had |
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Cette même année, elle a eu des jumeaux.
That same year, she had twins.
J'ai eu trois cadeaux pour mon anniversaire.
I had three presents for my birthday.
Hier, j'ai eu des invités.
Yesterday, I had guests.
Nous avons eu la varicelle en même temps.
We had chicken pox at the same time.
Nous avons tous eu la varicelle.
We all had chickenpox.
Vous avez eu beaucoup de chance ce jour-là.
You have been very lucky that day.
As-tu eu mon message?
Did you have my message?
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
27/03/18
Yes, in English you would translate both -- "avais" and "ai eu" -- with "had". However, if you want to form the plus-que-parfait you need to follow its rules and regulations. One of which is that it is formed using "avoir" or "être" in their imparfait form, followed by the past participle. You can never form the plus-que-parfait with "avoir + eu + past parciciple".
Quand tu m'as appelé, je l'avais déjà prévu. -- When you called me, I had it already planned. (Plus-que-parfait)
J'ai eu un coup de faiblesse. -- I had an attack of weakness. (Passé composé)
J'avais eu un coup de faiblesse. -- I had had an attack of weakness. (Plus-que-parfait)
J'avais un coup de faiblesse. -- I had an attack of weakness. (Imparfait, carrying the connotation that this happened repeatedly over a period of time).
I hope this helps, -- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
27/03/18
Bonjour !
To complete Chris' answer, here are links to our related glossary lessons on Plus-que-Parfait, Passé Composé and Imparfait :)
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verb-tense-mood/the-french-pluperfect-le-plus-que-parfait
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verb-tense-mood/the-french-simple-past-le-passe-compose
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verb-tense-mood/the-french-continuous-past-and-past-habit-l-imparfait
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
s
Kwiziq community member
27/03/18
Thank you Chris and Aurelie.
Trying not to get lost :)
Ron
Kwiziq community member
27/09/17
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
22/10/18
Hi Donald,
You are correct , you cannot use the verb 'avoir' for 'to have guests',
'recevoir' in the context of friends, family, guests means to have people in your home. e.g.
J'aime recevoir des amis chez moi le weekend = I enjoy having friends at home at the weekend
Nous allons recevoir des amis étrangers pour le jumelage le weekendprochain = We are going to have foreign visitors for the twinning next weekend
Hope this helps!
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
3/08/16
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
8/08/16
Walter
Kwiziq community member
29 November 2018
1 reply
with all due respect ...
"You have been very lucky that day", "Did you have my message?", and "I had three presents for my birthday", are literal translations from the French - they are NOT English. "You were very lucky that day", "Did you get (receive) my message?", and "I got (received) three presents for my birthday", would be correct English versions of those sentences. This might be of concern to non-native English speakers who are using this program to learn French. It seems to me that it would be best to learn to use BOTH languages correctly.
Roman
Kwiziq community member
30 November 2018
30/11/18