Definify.com
Definition 2024
avoir
avoir
French
Noun
avoir m (plural avoirs)
Verb
avoir
- (transitive) to have (to own; to possess)
- J'aimerais avoir 20 dollars.
- I would like to have 20 dollars.
- J'aimerais avoir 20 dollars.
- (intransitive, with à) to have (to)
- J'ai à vous parler.
- I have to talk to you.
- J'ai à vous parler.
- (auxiliary) to have (auxiliary verb to form compound past tenses of most verbs)
- J'ai parlé.
- I have spoken.
- J'ai parlé.
- (transitive) to have (a condition)
- J'ai faim.
- I'm hungry. (literally: “I have hunger.”)
- J'ai froid.
- I'm cold. (literally, “I have cold.”)
- J'ai faim.
- (transitive) to have (a measure or age)
- Elle a 19 ans.
- She is 19 years old. (literally, “She has 19 years.”)
- Elle a 19 ans.
- to have (to trick)
- Tu t'es fait avoir.
- You've been had.
- Tu t'es fait avoir.
- to have (to participate in an experience)
- avoir des relations sexuelles
- to have sexual relations
- avoir des relations sexuelles
Conjugation
Conjugation of avoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | avoir | avoir eu | |||||
gerund | en ayant | en ayant eu | |||||
present participle | ayant /ɛ.jɑ̃/ |
||||||
past participle | eu /y/ |
||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
simple tenses |
present | ai /e/ |
as /a/ |
a /a/ |
avons /a.vɔ̃/ |
avez /a.ve/ |
ont /ɔ̃/ |
imperfect | avais /a.vɛ/ |
avais /a.vɛ/ |
avait /a.vɛ/ |
avions /a.vjɔ̃/ |
aviez /a.vje/ |
avaient /a.vɛ/ |
|
past historic1 | eus /y/ |
eus /y/ |
eut /y/ |
eûmes /ym/ |
eûtes /yt/ |
eurent /yʁ/ |
|
future | aurai /o.ʁe/ |
auras /o.ʁa/ |
aura /o.ʁa/ |
aurons /o.ʁɔ̃/ |
aurez /o.ʁe/ |
auront /o.ʁɔ̃/ |
|
conditional | aurais /o.ʁɛ/ |
aurais /o.ʁɛ/ |
aurait /o.ʁɛ/ |
aurions /o.ʁjɔ̃/ |
auriez /o.ʁje/ |
auraient /o.ʁɛ/ |
|
compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
simple tenses |
present | aie /ɛ/ |
aies /ɛ/ |
ait /ɛ/ |
ayons /ɛ.jɔ̃/ |
ayez /ɛ.je/ |
aient /ɛ/ |
imperfect1 |
eusse /ys/ |
eusses /ys/ |
eût /y/ |
eussions /y.sjɔ̃/ |
eussiez /y.sje/ |
eussent /ys/ |
|
compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
— | aie /ɛ/ |
— | ayons /ɛ.jɔ̃/ |
ayez /ɛ.je/ |
— | ||
1literary tenses |
Usage notes
- Avoir is often used with nouns like chaud (“heat”), faim (“hunger”), soif (“thirst”), peur (“fear”), etc. to express a personal condition or feeling, as shown in examples above. While constructions like être affamé (“be starving/starved”) and être assoiffé (“be thirsty”) exist, they are almost always used figuratively. It is always more natural to use avoir rather than être in the examples listed above, and other similar cases. In some cases, both verbs can be used, but with vastly different meanings:
J'ai chaud. ― I'm hot.
Je suis chaud. ― I'm horny.
Derived terms
Look at pages starting with avoir.
See also
Middle French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French avoir, aveir, from Latin habēre, present active infinitive of habeō (“have, hold, possess”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰ- (“to grab, to take”).
Verb
avoir
- to have
- (auxiliary verb) to have (verb used to form the perfect tense)
Conjugation
- Like Modern French avoir, highly irregular
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of avoir
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | avoir | avoir eu | |||||
gerund | en ayant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
present participle | ayant | ||||||
past participle | eu | ||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | ie (may be i' before a vowel) | tu | il | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
simple tenses |
present | ai, ay | as | a | avons | avez | ont |
imperfect | avais | avais | avait | avions | aviez | avoient, avoyent | |
past historic | eus | eus | eut | eusmes | eustes | eurent | |
future | auroie, auroye | auras | aura | aurons | aurez | auront | |
conditional | aurois | aurois | aurait | aurions | auriez | auroient, auroyent | |
compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
past anterior | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que ie | que tu | qu'il | que nous | que vous | qu'ilz, qu'elles | |
simple tenses |
present | aie | aies | ait | ayons | ayez | aient, ayent |
imperfect | eusse | eusses | eust | eussions | eussiez | eussent | |
compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
— | aie | — | ayons, aions | ayez, aiez | — |
Descendants
- French: avoir
References
- avoir on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500) (in French)
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From earlier aveir, aver, from Latin habēre (“have, hold, possess”), present active infinitive of habeō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a.vojr/
Verb
avoir
- to have
- (auxiliary verb) to have (verb used to form the perfect tense)
- to exist (there is/there are)
- c. 1200, Author unknown, Les quatres sohais Saint Martin:
-
Un vilain ot en Normendie
- There was a peasant in Normandy
-
Un vilain ot en Normendie
-
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of avoir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | avoir | avoir eü, eüṭ, oü, oüṭ | |||||
gerund | en aiant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
present participle | aiant | ||||||
past participle | eü, eüṭ, oü, oüṭ | ||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
simple tenses |
present | ai | as | a, aṭ | avons | avez | ont |
imperfect | avoie, aveie | avoies, aveies | avoit, aveit | aviiens, aviens | aviiez, aviez | avoient, aveient | |
preterite | oi | eüs, oüs | ot, out | eümes, oümes | eüstes, oüstes | orent | |
future | avrai, arai | avras, aras | avra, ara | avrons, arons | avroiz, avreiz, avrez, aroiz, areiz, arez | avront, aront | |
conditional | avroie, avreie, aroie, areie | avroies, avreies, aroies, areies | avroit, avreit, aroit, areit | avriiens, avriens, ariiens, ariens | avriiez, avriez, ariiez, ariez | avroient, avreient, aroient, areient | |
compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
simple tenses |
present | aie | aies | aie, aieṭ, ait | aiiens, aions | aiiez | aient |
imperfect | eüsse, oüsse | eüsses, oüsses | eüst, oüst | eüssons, eüssiens, oüssons, oüssiens | eüssoiz, eüssez, eüssiez, oüssoiz, oüssez, oüssiez | eüssent, oüssent | |
compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
— | aies | — | aiiens, aions | aiiez | — |
Noun
avoir m (oblique plural avoirs, nominative singular avoirs, nominative plural avoir)
- possession; good
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
- C'est mes avoirs, c'est mes tresorz.
- It is my possession, it is my treasure.
- C'est mes avoirs, c'est mes tresorz.
- circa 1250, Rutebeuf, Ci encoumence la vie de Sainte Marie l'Egypcienne:
-
Robes, deniers ne autre avoir
Ne voloit de l'autrui avoir.- Not clothing, nor money, nor other possessions
Did she want to have from others.
- Not clothing, nor money, nor other possessions
-
Robes, deniers ne autre avoir
- circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide: