Chapitre Cinq
Les expressions avec avoir; Être vs Avoir; Avoir mal à
Exercice 5.20 - 5.25
Les expressions avec avoir
There are several common expressions in French that use the verb avoir. They don’t translate directly to English, so it is important to spend extra time studying these special expressions. We have seen some of these before, but it is good to revisit old expressions while we learn new ones.
Vocabulary:
avoir besoin de (infinitif)
avoir envie de (infinitif)
avoir l’habitude de (infinitif)
*You can make any of these negative by using “ne… pas.”
Être versus Avoir
As we have learned, être means to be and avoir means to have. Both have the function of a helping verb in certain instances in the past tense, le passé composé, which we will learn more about later in this chapter and in following chapters. They are also used in many common expressions about how we are feeling.
Each is used in specific situations; they are not interchangeable.
Être is used with inherent characteristics and identity.
Renée est petite, blonde et belle. Elle est thérapeute. Elle est très intelligente.
Être is also used to talk about states of being and emotions. Être is followed by an adjective.
Renée est triste. Elle est fatiguée parce qu’elle n’a pas dormi.
Avoir is used for possession as well as to communicate certain states of being, feelings, and idiomatic expressions. Avoir is followed by a noun.
Note that there can be multiple ways to communicate a similar thought by using different verbs with different expressions. It is important to realize that the nouns and adjectives are not interchangeable. Here are some examples:
Je suis fatigué.e. I am tired.
J’ai sommeil. I am sleepy.
Je suis embarrassé.e. I am embarrassed.
J’ai honte. I am ashamed/embarrassed.
Avoir mal à
We can use avoir mal à plus a body part to describe a particular place where we are hurting. We will learn about body parts and health in detail in the next chapter, but for now, here are a few common phrases you might want to be able to say using this expression with avoir:
avoir mal…
Exercice 5.20
Exercice 5.21
Exercice 5.22
Exercice 5.23
Exercice 5.24
Exercice 5.25
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- yawn © Tim Bish
to need to
to want to
to be cold
to be hot
to be hungry
to be thirsty
to have a cough
to be sleepy
to be in the habit of; to generally (do something)
to be afraid of
to have pain
to be embarrassed/ashamed
to be # years old
to be lucky
to be wrong
to be right
is
short; small
blond (feminine singular form)
and
beautiful
she
therapist
very
intelligent
sad
tired
because
didn't sleep
has
hunger
desire
of
to eat
something
to have a headache
to have a hurt arm
to have a hurt leg
to have a backache
to have a hurt ankle
to have a hurt knee
to have sore shoulders
to have a tummyache
