Avoir and Negation
French I
Unité 1
Avoir – to have
When you form sentences in English or French, you
change the verb to go with the subject. This is called
conjugating.
Example: I have a cat.
He has a cat.
These are both forms of the verb “to have.”
“To have” is called the infinitive of the verb.
In English the infinitive is two words. In French it is one.
“to have” in French is “avoir”
Avoir – to have
In English, we don’t say “I to have a cat.” or “He
to have a cat.”
Instead, we change, or conjugate, the verb so that
it goes with the subject of our sentence.
We must also conjugate French verbs.
Instead of saying J’avoir (I to have), we say J’ai ( I have).
Do you remember how to say these?
I have = J’ai
You have = Tu as
He / She has = Il a / Elle a
Avoir – to have
J’ ai
Tu
Nous avons
as
Il / Elle a
Vous avez
Ils / Elles ont
* Remember that sometimes there will be names
instead of subject pronouns. To figure out which
conjugation to use, think of how you could replace
the name (s).
Example: Henry ____
has a pencil. = He has a pencil.
a un crayon. = Il a un crayon.
Henri ___
Negatives
To make a sentence negative in English, we add “not.”
In French, we add ne AND pas around the verb.
Before a vowel, ne changes to n’
Remember to change the article to de or d’ after pas.
Example: You have some books.
Tu as des livres.
You do not have any books.
Tu n’as pas de livres.