French Verb Conjugations: Be and Have

How to conjugate être and avoir in French, with pronunciation

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French Verb Conjugations: To Be & To Have / Être & Avoir

Present tense of être /ɛtʀ/ - to be

I am	je suis	/ʒə sɥi/	We are	nous sommes	/nu sɔm/
You are	tu es	/ty ɛ/	You are	vous êtes	/vu zɛt/
He is She is One is	il est elle est on est	/il ɛ/ /ɛl ɛ/ /ɔ̃ nɛ/	They are They are	ils sont elles sont	/il sɔ̃/ /ɛl sɔ̃/

Past tense of être - to be

I was	j'étais	/ʒetɛ/	We were	nous étions	/nu zetjɔ̃/
You were	tu étais	/tu etɛ/	You were	vous étiez	/vu zetje/
He was She was One was	il était elle était on était	/il etɛ/ /ɛl etɛ/ /ɔ̃ netɛ/	They were They were	ils étaient elles étaient	/il zetɛ/ /ɛl zetɛ/

Je and any verb form that starts with a vowel (or silent h) combine together for ease of pronunciation.

Future Tense of être - to be

I will be	je serai	/ʒə səʀe/	We will be	nous serons	/nu səʀɔ̃/
You will be	tu seras	/ty səʀa/	You will be	vous serez	/vu səʀe/
He will be She will be One will be	il sera elle sera on sera	/il səʀa/ /ɛl səʀa/ /ɔ̃ səʀa/	They will be They will be	ils seront elles seront	/il səʀɔ̃/ /ɛl səʀɔ̃/

Present tense of avoir /avwaʀ/ - to have

I have	j'ai	/ʒe/	We have	nous avons	/nu zavɔ̃/
You have	tu as	/ty ɑ/	You have	vous avez	/vu zave/
He has She has One has	il a elle a on a	/il ɑ/ /ɛl ɑ/ /ɔ̃ nɑ/	They have They have	ils ont elles ont	/il zɔ̃/ /ɛl zɔ̃/

Past tense of avoir - to have

I had	j'avais	/ʒavɛ/	We had	nous avions	/nu zavjɔ̃/
You had	tu avais	/ty avɛ/	You had	vous aviez	/vu zavje/
He had She had One had	il avait elle avait on avait	/il avɛ/ /ɛl avɛ/ /ɔ̃ navɛ/	They had	ils avaient elles avaient	/il zavɛ/ /ɛl zavɛ/

Future tense of avoir - to have

I will have	j'aurai	/ʒoʀe/	We will have	nous aurons	/nu zoʀɔ̃/
You will have	tu auras	/ty oʀɑ/	You will have	vous aurez	/vu zoʀe/
He will have She will have One will have	il aura elle aura on aura	/il oʀa/ /ɛl oʀa/ /ɔ̃ noʀa/	They will have They will have	ils auront elles auront	/il zoʀɔ̃/ /ɛl zoʀɔ̃/

 

In informal French, the tu forms of verbs that begin with a vowel contract with the pronoun: tu es = t'es /tɛ/, tu as = t'as /tɑ/, etc. In addition, it is very common to use on (plus 3rd person singular conjugation) to mean we instead of nous.

 

Common Expressions with avoir and Etre

Avoir and être are used in many common and idiomatic expressions that should be memorized:

avoir chaud	/avwaʀ ʃo/	to be hot	être de retour	/ɛtʀ də ʀətuʀ/	to be back
avoir froid	/avwaʀ fʀwa/	to be cold	être en retard	/ɛtʀ ɑ̃ ʀətaʀ/	to be late
avoir peur	/avwaʀ pœʀ/	to be afraid	être en avance	/ɛtʀ ɑ̃ navɑ̃s/	to be early
avoir raison	/avwaʀ ʀɛzɔ̃/	to be right	être d'accord	/ɛtʀ dakɔʀ/	to be in agreement
avoir tort	/avwaʀ tɔʀ/	to be wrong	être sur le point de	/ɛtʀ syʀ lə pwɛ̃ də/	to be about to
avoir faim	/avwaʀ fɛ̃/	to be hungry	être en train de	/ɛtʀ ɑ̃ tʀɛ̃ də/	to be in the act of
avoir soif	/avwaʀ swaf/	to be thirsty	être enrhumée	/ɛtʀ ɑ̃ʀyme/	to have a cold
avoir sommeil	/avwaʀ sɔmɛj/	to be sleepy	nous + être (un jour)	/ɛtʀ œ̃̃̃ ʒuʀ/	to be (a day)
avoir honte	/avwaʀ ʽɔ̃t/	to be ashamed
avoir besoin de	/avwaʀ bəzwɛ̃ də/	to need
avoir l'air de	/avwaʀ ɛʀ də/	to look like, seem
avoir l'intention de	/avwaʀ ɛ̃tɑ̃sjɔ̃/	to intend to
avoir envie de	/avwaʀ ɑ̃vi də/	to feel like
avoir de la chance	/avwaʀ də la ʃɑ̃s/	to be lucky

J'ai froid.  I'm cold. Tu avais raison.  You were right. Il aura sommeil ce soir.  He will be tired tonight. Elle a de la chance !  She's lucky! Nous aurons faim plus tard.  We will be hungry later. Vous aviez tort.  You were wrong. Ils ont chaud.  They are hot. Elles avaient peur hier.  They were afraid yesterday.

Je suis en retard!  I'm late! Tu étais en avance.  You were early. Elle sera d'accord.  She will agree. Nous sommes lundi.  It is Monday. Vous étiez enrhumé.  You had a cold. Ils seront en train d'étudier.  They will be (in the act of) studying. Elles étaient sur le point de partir.  They were about to leave. On est de retour.  We/you/they/the people are back.

 

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