AVOIR Workpages

Available as an instant downloadable file, Avoir Workpages provides an assortment of reproducible exercises at different levels to provide your students with extra practice for this essential verb. Many of the pages provided are taken from Nallenart's popular curriculum, L'Art de LIRE.

Avoir Workpages

C$9.95

View sample pages.

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Expressions with AVOIR - faim

j'ai faim (zhay* FEH)** = I am hungry

In English, we use the phrase "I am hungry" to let someone know we need food. In this sentence "am," the being word, is used. To make the same statement in French, avoir (the having word) is used. The French phrase for "I am hungry," j'ai faim, uses the having verb avoir.

Even though this phrase literally means "I have hunger," we would translate it as "I am hungry," because that is how we would say it in English. Faim is like the English word famine or famished.

This is what the different forms of this phrase look like in the
present tense.

j'ai faim -I am hungry	nous avons faim -we are hungry
tu as faim -you are hungry	vous avez faim -you are hungry
il a faim -he is hungry	ils ont faim -they are hungry
elle a faim -she is hungry	elles ont faim -they are hungry

For more work with AVOIR, download Nallenart's Avoir Workpages.

* zh sounds like "g" in beige or "s" in measure.
** Please keep in mind that these pronunciation guides give only a
crude approximation of the actual French sounds.

Expressions with AVOIR - age

French uses the verb avoir to tell how old someone is.
   How old are you?
      Quel âge as-tu? (kel ahzh* ah tyoo)**
   I am ten years old.
      J’ai dix ans. (zhay* deez ah)**
Read the question, then answer in French.
   Quel âge as-tu?
      J'ai...
* zh sounds like "g" in beige or "s" in measure.
** Please keep in mind that these pronunciation guides give only a
crude approximation of the actual French sounds.

For more work with AVOIR, download Nallenart's Avoir Workpages.

Expressions with AVOIR - soif

j'ai soif (zhay* SWAHF)** = I am thirsty

In English, we use the phrase "I am thirsty" to let someone know we need a drink. In this sentence "am," the being word, is used. To make the same statement in French, avoir (the having word) is used. The French phrase for "I am thirsty," j'ai soif, uses the having verb avoir. Even though this phrase literally means "I have thirst," we would translate it as "I am thirsty," because that is how we would say it in English.

This is what the different forms of this phrase look like in the
present tense.

j'ai soif -I am thirsty	nous avons soif -we are thirsty
tu as soif -you are thirsty	vous avez soif -you are thirsty
il a soif -he is thirsty	ils ont soif -they are thirsty
elle a soif -she is thirsty	elles ont soif -they are thirsty

For more work with AVOIR, download Nallenart's Avoir Workpages.

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* zh sounds like "g" in beige or "s" in measure.
** Please keep in mind that these pronunciation guides give only a
crude approximation of the actual French sounds.

Expressions with avoir

Avoir (to have) is used in many common expressions in French. Some of these are quite different from English, so you must memorize them.

1. avoir chaud (a-VWAHR shoh)*- to be hot
2. avoir froid (a-VWAHR frwah)- to be cold
3. avoir mal (a-VWAHR mal)- to be sick
4. avoir faim (a-VWAHR fay)- to be hungry
5. avoir soif (a-VWAHR swahf)- to be thirsty
6. avoir sommeil (a-VWAHR soh-MAY)- to be tired, sleepy
7. avoir peur de (a-VWAHR PUHR duh)- to be afraid of
8. avoir besoin de (a-VWAHR buh-ZWAY duh)- to have need of

*Please note that these pronunciation guides give only a crude approximation of the French sounds!

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AVOIR Quiz

Just posted! Try Club Mimi's quiz on the forms of the verb AVOIR in the present tense:

Quiz: AVOIR = to have

avoir = to have

The verb avoir describes having something. It is also used in many different expressions in French where different verbs might be used in English.

to have = avoir
I have = j’ai*
you have (singular) = tu as
he has = il a
she has = elle a
it has = il a or elle a
we have = nous avons
you have (plural) = vous avez
they have = ils ont or elles ont

*When the verb starts with a vowel, je drops the e and adds an apostrophe to make a contraction.

Listen to the podcast to learn how to pronounce these verbs.