Chapitre 4
AVOIR – to have
•
•
•
•
J’ai
Tu as
Il a
Elle a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils ont
Elles ont
Uses of avoir
• Avoir is used to mean ‘have’ and ‘has’
• Avoir is used to express how old you are.
– The French say ‘I have 5 years’ not ‘I am 5
years old’. J’ai 5 ans.
• Avoir is used to express hunger and thirst.
– The French say ‘I have hunger’ and ‘I have
thirst’ not ‘I am thirsty’.
Possessive Adjectives
• Ma, mon, mes my
• Ta, ton, tes
your
• Sa, son, ses his/her
Notre, nos our
Votre, vos your
Leur, leurs their
Rules for Usage
• Possessive adjectives are like other French
adjectives- they agree in number and gender with
the noun they modify.
–
–
–
–
My book
My books
My chair
My chairs
mon livre
mes livres
ma chaise
mes chaises
• However: when the singular noun begins with a
vowel, the masculine form is used.
Mon ami mon amie
mes amis
mes amies
Irregular adjectives
• The adjectives old, new and pretty all are
placed before the noun they modify. They
are highly irregular in their forms.
m.
f.
m.
m.
f.
before a vowel
vieux
vieille
nouveau nouvelle
beau
belle
vieil
nouvel
bel
pl.
vieux
nouveaux
beaux
pl.
vieilles
nouvelles
belles