All verbs

/avwaʁ/to haveA1

Family
Fully irregular — a law unto itself
Takes
a direct object — Takes a direct object — and it is the auxiliary for most compound tenses

Build map — what to memorise

These three pieces are learnt; every other tense is built from them.

The nous form
avons
Presentprésentlearn it whole

Singular — the short stem

Presentprésent1 exception(s)

Plural — the nous stem

av-+-ons -ez -ent

  • ils ontthe rule said avent
Imperfectimparfaitfollows the rule

av-+-ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Present participleparticipe-présent1 exception(s)

av-+-ant

  • ayantthe rule said avant
Subjunctivesubjonctif-présent6 exception(s)

Built on ils; nous and vous are the imparfait forms

ont-+-e -es -e -ent

  • je aiethe rule said onte
  • tu aiesthe rule said ontes
  • il aitthe rule said onte
  • nous ayonsthe rule said avions
  • vous ayezthe rule said aviez
  • ils aientthe rule said ontent
Infinitive
avoir
Simple futurefutur-simplestem changes

aur-+-ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont

Conditionalconditionnel-présentfollows the rule

Futur stem + imparfait endings

aur-+-ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Near futurefutur-prochefollows the rule

aller + infinitive

avoir

Past participle
eu

Takes avoir

Passé composépassé-composéfollows the rule

avoir (present) + past participle

eu

Pluperfectplus-que-parfaitfollows the rule

Auxiliary in the imparfait + past participle

eu

Conjugation

présent
Ij'ai/ʒe/I have
youtu as/ty a/you have
he/sheil a/il a/he has
wenous avons/nuz avɔ̃/we have
youvous avez/vuz ave/you have
theyils ont/ilz ɔ̃/they have

Examples

  • J'ai un livre.

    /ʒe œ̃ livʁ/

    I have a book.

  • J'ai vingt ans.

    /ʒe vɛ̃.t‿ɑ̃/

    I'm twenty.

  • Nous avons faim.

    /nu.z‿a.vɔ̃ fɛ̃/

    We're hungry.

Set phrases

  • avoir faim

    to be hungry

  • avoir soif

    to be thirsty

  • avoir chaud

    to be hot

Notes

  • Look at that list: every one of them is "to be" in English. Age, hunger, thirst, fear, being right — French treats these as things you HAVE, not things you ARE. J'ai faim, never Je suis faim.

  • And no article after them: J'ai faim, not J'ai la faim.

  • It is also the auxiliary for the passé composé of nearly every verb. See passe-compose-avoir.