Conjugate avoir in Le Présent (present tense)

In: Level A1, Verbs Tenses & Conjugation, Présent indicatif, Verbe irrégulier, Verbes avec -OIR
Questions: 27

The verb avoir (to have) is irregular (it doesn't follow the same conjugation rules as other verbs ending in -oir).

It conjugates like this in Le Présent:

j' ai
tu as
il/elle/on  a
nous avons
vous avez
ils/elles ont


Have a listen to these examples:

J'ai un chien.
I have a dog.

Tu as une soeur.
You have a sister.

Il a les yeux bleus.
He has blue eyes.

Nous avons deux chats.
We have two cats.

Vous avez les mêmes yeux.
You have the same eyes.

Ils ont un bébé.
They have a baby.

 

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Présent indicatif

Verbe irrégulier

Verbes avec -OIR

Examples and resources

Il a les yeux bleus.
He has blue eyes.

Ils ont un bébé.
They have a baby.

Tu as une soeur.
You have a sister.

Vous avez les mêmes yeux.
You have the same eyes.

J'ai un chien.
I have a dog.

Nous avons deux chats.
We have two cats.

Elle a une souris.
She has a mouse.

Q&A

William

Kwiziq community member

14 December 2018

1 reply

avons nous plusieurs appartments?

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

16 December 2018

16/12/18

Hi William,

Do you have a question?

Kelly

Kwiziq community member

18 February 2018

1 reply

Demonstrative

Chris

Kwiziq community member

19 February 2018

19/02/18

You need to form comprehensible questions. I don't know what you're asking. 

-- Chris. 

Kyaw

Kwiziq community member

24 July 2017

3 replies

Bonjour.

Which conjugated verb will a proper noun take? How about common nouns? Is there any difference in singularity and plurality of the verbs as in English?

Ron

Kwiziq community member

24 July 2017

24/07/17

Bonjour Kyaw, a proper noun, i.e. a person's name, will use the third person singular. Let's look at some examples: J'ai un chien. I have a dog. So if we want to state that Jean has a dog, then the phrase becomes «Jean a un chien» Nous avons deux chats. We have two cats. In speaking about my family, to use a common noun, Ma famille a deux chats or Nous avons deux chats. or how about «the house has a roof» la maison a un toit. Elle a une souris. She has a mouse. In these examples, except for nous, they all use the third person singular. With nous it takes the first person plural, nous avons. I hope this helps, Bonne chance, Ron

Kyaw

Kwiziq community member

25 July 2017

25/07/17

Merci prof. It helps. So if the subject is plural proper nouns such as John et Alice or plural common nouns such as La maisons, which verbs can we use to be compatable with.

Kyaw

Kwiziq community member

25 July 2017

25/07/17

Do they use third person plural?

Candace

Kwiziq community member

9 November 2016

3 replies

Bonjour. Also, do I have body parts or own them?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

10 November 2016

10/11/16

Bonjour Candace ! Well, in French, you will use "avoir [un bras / une bouche / ... ]", and in English I would use "to have" as well. Does this answer your question?

Candace

Kwiziq community member

10 November 2016

10/11/16

Oui. Merci.

Max

Kwiziq community member

1 December 2017

1/12/17

Bonsoir! That's interesting, Aurélie. I'm Brazilian, and in Portuguese (which also comes from latin) we have a similar construction. We can say "nós" (= French's "nous") which takes a plural verb, or we can say "a gente", which has the same meaning as "nós", but takes a singular verb, just as "on" does in French.

Candace

Kwiziq community member

9 November 2016

2 replies

Bonjour. Is it possible to use On? Would I conjugate on a or on avons? Merci.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

10 November 2016

10/11/16

Bonjour Candace ! Yes, of course, "on" is actually more common in speech than "nous". You conjugate verbs with it as you do "il/elle", so it will be "on a". I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !

Candace

Kwiziq community member

10 November 2016

10/11/16

La réponse m'aide. Merci.

Zsuzsanna

Kwiziq community member

6 November 2016

3 replies

Bonjour! Nous avons deux chiens et un cheval. :)

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

7 November 2016

7/11/16

C'est super ! Moi, je n'ai pas d'animal familier.

Zsuzsanna

Kwiziq community member

7 November 2016

7/11/16

Pourquoi vous n'avez pas d'animal familier? :)

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

7 November 2016

7/11/16

J'habite dans un petit appartement en plein centre-ville, et pour être honnête, je n'ai pas vraiment envie :)

Amany

Kwiziq community member

29 June 2016

1 reply

J'ai une chienne

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

29 June 2016

29/06/16

Super Amany ! Comment s'appelle-t-elle ?

Charles

Kwiziq community member

6 April 2016

1 reply

T'as

Actually I saw people using 't'as' in sitcoms, and I guessed it should be 'tu as'. Do we get to use that once we are more advanced? It's an informal expression, right?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

7 April 2016

7/04/16

Bonjour Charles ! That's an interesting question: indeed, "t'as" is the contraction of "tu as" (you have), just like "t'es" is the contraction of "tu es" (you are). It's extremely commonly used in speech: I mean, everyone says "t'as" and "t'es"! However, unlike in English where "you're" or "I'm" are perfectly acceptable written forms, in French you are not supposed to write the contracted forms, only "tu as" or "tu es". I hope that answers your question!

Lisa

Kwiziq community member

6 March 2016

3 replies

Why do you contract je ai to j'ai but leave tu as and not t'as ?

It seems like tu never contracts with the following verb. Are there other words that end in vowels but never contract with the next word ?

Lisa

Kwiziq community member

6 March 2016

6/03/16

Is it perhaps because the French u followed by a doesn't have a glottal stop in the same way that French e followed by a has?

Laura

Kwiziq language super star

7 March 2016

7/03/16

Bonjour Lisa,

In grammatically correct French, E is the only vowel that contracts. So je, me, te, le, etc all contract, but tu, qui, etc do not.

The only exceptions are la and si, but the latter only when it means "if" and only in front of il and ils.

Lisa

Kwiziq community member

8 March 2016

8/03/16

Oh, that is interesting. I don't think I've seen that pointed out anywhere. Merci.

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