Avoir Conjugation in French, Translation, and Examples

Key Takeaways

'Avoir' means 'to have' and is an important verb in French for forming compound tenses.
'Avoir' is used in many French phrases like 'j'ai faim' meaning 'I am hungry.'
Different conjugations of 'avoir' include present, past, future, conditional, and imperative forms.

The French irregular verb avoir, which means "to have," is one of the most frequently used of all French verbs. Avoir is also an auxiliary verb, which means it's used to form compound tenses, such as the passé composé. Since most French verbs use avoir to form their compound tenses, it is essential to memorize and understand avoir conjugations.

Some of the avoir conjugations are so irregular that you have to simply memorize them. In this article, you can find the most frequently used avoir conjugations: the present, present progressive, compound past, imperfect, simple future, and near future indicative, the conditional, the present subjunctive, as well as the imperative and gerund.

Pronunciation of 'Avoir'

Be careful with the pronunciation of this verb. In formal French, there are many sound liaisons involved with the pronunciation of avoir:

Nous avons > Nous Z-avons
Vous avez > Vous Z-avez
Ils/Elles ont > Ils Z-ont (silent t)

Many students confuse the pronunciation of ils ont (aller, Z sound) and ils sont (être, S sound), so be careful with that as well.

In informal modern French, there are a lot of "glidings" (elisions). For example, tu as is pronounced ta.

Glidings are also evident with everyday pronunciations of the common expression il y a (there is/there are):

il y a = ya
il n'y a pas (de) = yapad
il y en a = yan na

Idiomatic Expressions With 'Avoir'

Avoir is used in many French expressions. Here are some examples:

J'ai faim. > I'm hungry.
J'ai soif. > I'm thirsty.
J'ai chaud > I'm hot (I feel hot)
avoir ___ ans > to be ___ years old
avoir besoin de > to need
avoir envie de > to want

Present Indicative 'Avoir' Conjugation

The following are the conjugations for the present indicative.

Je	ai	J'ai une grande famille.	I have a big family.
Tu	as	Tu as trois soeurs.	You have three sisters.
Ils/Elles/On	a	Elle a beaucoup d'amis.	She has many friends.
Nous	avons	Nous avons une nouvelle voiture.	We have a new car.
Vous	avez	Vous avez deux chiens.	You have two dogs.
Ils/Elles	ont	Elles ont les yeux verts.	They have green eyes.

Present Progressive Indicative 'Avoir' Conjugation

The present progressive in French can be expressed with the simple present tense, or with the expression être en train de, formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb être (to be) + en train de + the infinitive verb (avoir). However, this verb form is not very commonly used with the verb avoir in the sense of possessing something, although it might be used to say one is currently having a discussion, having a baby, having a revelation or feeling. Therefore, the examples in this section will all contain such uses of avoir.

Je	suis en train d'avoir	Je suis en train d'avoir une discussion avec mon ami.	I am having a discussion with my friend.
Tu	es en train d'avoir	Tu es en train d'avoir un bébé.	You are having a baby.
Ils/Elles/On	est en train d'avoir	Elle est en train d'avoir un débat avec sa classe.	She is having a debate with her class.
Nous	sommes en train d'avoir	Nous sommes en train d'avoir un accident.	We are having an accident.
Vous	êtes en train d'avoir	Vous êtes en train d'avoir une transformation.	You are having a transformation.
Ils/Elles	sont en train d'avoir	Elles sont en train d'avoir une conversation.	They are having a conversation.

Compound Past Indicative 'Avoir' Conjugation

The passé composé is a form of the past tense that can be translated to English as the simple past or the present perfect. It is formed with the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle eu (pronounced as a single sound, u, as in tu). Note that avoir is thus both the verb for the auxiliary and past participle, just like in English "have had". Also, avoir in the passé composé is not commonly used for the meaning of possessing an object (for that purpose you would use the imperfect), but for other expressions using avoir such as to have a discussion, a transformation, an accident, etc.

Je	ai eu	J'ai eu une discussion avec mon ami.	I had a discussion with my friend.
Tu	as eu	Tu as eu un bébé.	You had a baby.
Ils/Elles/On	a eu	Elle a eu un débat avec sa classe.	She had a debate with her class.
Nous	avons eu	Nous avons eu un accident.	We had an accident.
Vous	avez eu	Vous avez eu une transformation.	You had a transformation.
Ils/Elles	ont eu	Elles ont eu une conversation.	They had a conversation.

Imperfect Indicative 'Avoir' Conjugation

The imperfect is another form of the past tense, which can be used to talk about ongoing events or repeated actions in the past, and is usually translated to English as "was having" or "used to have", but it can also be translated as the simple past "had".

Je	avais	J'avais une grande famille.	I used to have a big family.
Tu	avais	Tu avais trois soeurs.	You used to have three sisters.
Ils/Elles/On	avait	Elle avait beaucoup d'amis.	She used to have many friends.
Nous	avions	Nous avions une nouvelle voiture.	We used to have a new car.
Vous	aviez	Vous aviez deux chiens.	You used to have two dogs.
Ils/Elles	avaient	Elles avaient les yeux verts.	They used to have green eyes.

Simple Future Indicative 'Avoir' Conjugation

The following are the conjugations for simple future.

Je	aurai	J'aurai une grande famille.	I will have a big family.
Tu	auras	Tu auras trois soeurs.	You will have three sisters.
Ils/Elles/On	aura	Elle aura beaucoup d'amis.	She will have many friends.
Nous	aurons	Nous aurons une nouvelle voiture.	We will have a new car.
Vous	aurez	Vous aurez deux chiens.	You will have two dogs.
Ils/Elles	auront	Elles auront les yeux verts.	They will have green eyes.

Near Future Indicative 'Avoir' Conjugation

The near future is formed using the present tense conjugation of the verb aller (to go) + the infinitive (avoir). It is translated to English as "going to + verb."

Je	vais avoir	Je vais avoir une grande famille.	I am going to have a big family.
Tu	vas avoir	Tu vas avoir trois soeurs.	You are going to have three sisters.
Ils/Elles/On	va avoir	Elle va avoir beaucoup d'amis.	She is going to have many friends.
Nous	allons avoir	Nous allons avoir une nouvelle voiture.	We are going to have a new car.
Vous	allez avoir	Vous allez avoir deux chiens.	You are going to have two dogs.
Ils/Elles	vont avoir	Elles vont avoir les yeux verts.	They are going to have green eyes.

Conditional 'Avoir' Conjugation

The conditional mood can be translated to English as "would + verb." In French it can be used to talk about hypothetical or possible events, to form if clauses, or to express polite requests.

Je	aurais	J'aurais une grande famille si je pouvais.	I would have a big family if I could.
Tu	aurais	Tu aurais trois soeurs si c'était possible.	You would have three sisters if it were possible.
Ils/Elles/On	aurait	Elle aurait beaucoup d'amis si elle était plus aimable.	She would have many friends if she were more kind.
Nous	aurions	Nous aurions une nouvelle voiture si nous avions d'argent.	We would have a new car if we had money.
Vous	auriez	Vous auriez deux chiens, mais vos parents ne le permettent pas.	You would have two dogs, but your parents don't allow it.
Ils/Elles	auraient	Elles auraient les yeux verts si elles pouvaient choisir.	They would have green eyes if they could choose.

Present Subjunctive 'Avoir' Conjugation

The present subjunctive in French is used to talk about events that are uncertain.

Je	aie	Ma mère souhaite que j'ai une grande famille.	My mother wishes that I have a big family.
Tu	aies	Chloë est contente que tu aies trois soeurs.	Chloë is happy that you have three sisters.
Ils/Elles/On	ait	Il est important que tu ait beaucoup d'amis.	It is important that you have many friends.
Nous	ayons	Eric est ravi que nous ayons une nouvelle voiture.	Eric is thrilled that we have a new car.
Vous	ayez	Céline conseille que vous ayez deux chiens.	Céline advises that you have two dogs.
Ils/Elles	aient	Pierre aime qu'elles aient les yeux verts.	Pierre loves that they have green eyes.

Imperative 'Avoir' Conjugation

To give orders or commands you need the imperative mood. It is not very common to command someone to possess something, but there are some cases in which you would use the imperative with avoir, such as when telling someone to have patience. Notice that the negative commands are simply formed by placing ne...pas around the positive command.

Positive commands

Tu	aie !	Aie de la patience avec les enfants !	Have patience with the children!
Nous	ayons !	Ayons confiance en nos parents !	Let's have faith in our parents!
Vous	ayez !	Ayez de la compassion pour tous !	Have compassion for everyone!

Negative commands

Tu	n'aie pas !	N'aie pas de patience avec les enfants !	Don't have patience with the children!
Nous	n'ayons pas !	N'ayons pas de confiance en nos parents!	Let's not have faith in our parents!
Vous	n'ayez pas !	N'ayez pas de compassion pour tous !	Don't have compassion for everyone!

Present Participle/Gerund 'Avoir' Conjugation

The present participle can be used to form the gerund (usually preceded by the preposition en), which can be used to talk about simultaneous actions.

Present Participle/Gerund of Avoir: ayant

Elle prend la décision en ayant en tête les problèmes. -> She makes the decision while having the problems in mind.

French Verb Avoir Conjugation