The two verbs French cannot live without
Être (to be) and avoir (to have) are the most frequent verbs in the language. They describe, they locate, they possess, and later in this course they build the passé composé, the main past tense. Both are irregular, so this unit is pure memorization plus usage. Drill them until the forms are reflexes.
| Person | être (to be) | avoir (to have) |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | suis | ai |
| tu | es | as |
| il / elle / on | est | a |
| nous | sommes | avons |
| vous | êtes | avez |
| ils / elles | sont | ont |
What être does
- Identity and profession: Je suis professeur (no article before the profession)
- Description: Elle est très contente
- Origin: Nous sommes de Montréal
- Location: Ils sont au cinéma
| Je suis professeur. | I am a teacher. French drops the article before professions |
| Elle est très contente. | She is very happy. |
| Nous sommes en retard. | We are late. |
What avoir does, including the idioms
Avoir expresses possession, but its idioms are where English speakers stumble. French says you have hunger, have thirst, have twenty years. Translating 'I am hungry' with être produces a genuine error, so learn these expressions as fixed chunks: avoir faim, avoir soif, avoir chaud, avoir froid, avoir raison, avoir besoin de.
| J'ai deux chats. | I have two cats. |
| Tu as quel âge ? J'ai vingt ans. | How old are you? I am twenty. age always uses avoir |
| Il a faim et il a soif. | He is hungry and thirsty. avoir idioms where English uses to be |
| Nous avons besoin de temps. | We need time. avoir besoin de = to need |
If the English sentence uses am, is or are with hungry, thirsty, hot, cold, right, wrong, or an age, the French sentence almost certainly uses avoir.
Basic negation: ne ... pas
French negation wraps around the conjugated verb: ne before it, pas after it. Je suis fatigué becomes Je ne suis pas fatigué. Before a vowel, ne shrinks to n': Elle n'a pas de stylo.
Remember the article rule from unit one: after pas, the articles un, une, des and the partitives become de. Definite articles stay: Je n'aime pas le lundi.
| Je ne suis pas fatigué. | I am not tired. |
| Elle n'a pas de stylo. | She does not have a pen. un becomes de after pas |
Beyond pas: jamais, plus, rien
The same sandwich structure carries other negative words. Replace pas with jamais (never), plus (no longer), or rien (nothing) and the grammar stays identical.
| Nous ne sortons jamais le lundi. | We never go out on Mondays. |
| Il n'habite plus ici. | He no longer lives here. |
| Je ne comprends rien. | I understand nothing. |
In casual spoken French, the ne often disappears: Je sais pas. Understand it when you hear it, but keep the full ne ... pas in your own writing.
Hearing the difference: ils sont vs ils ont
Ils sont (they are) and ils ont (they have) are separated by a single sound. In ils ont, liaison inserts a z: eel-ZOHN. In ils sont you hear an s: eel-SOHN. Train your ear on this pair early; it distinguishes being from having in every conversation.
Pronunciation corner
| je suis | /ʒə sɥi/ | zhuh SWEE; glide quickly through the u into ee |
| vous êtes | /vuz‿ɛt/ | voo-ZET; liaison links the s of vous to êtes |
| ils sont | /il sɔ̃/ | eel SOHN with a clear s sound; nasal ending |
| ils ont | /ilz‿ɔ̃/ | eel-ZOHN; the z of the liaison tells you it is avoir |
| j'ai | /ʒe/ | zhay, one short syllable |
Practice drill
Fill each blank with the correct form of the verb in brackets, or transform the sentence as instructed.
Je ___ (être) canadien.Show answer
suis
Vous ___ (avoir) l'heure ?Show answer
avez
Ils ___ (être) au cinéma.Show answer
sont
Elle ___ (avoir) vingt-cinq ans.Show answer
a
Make negative: Nous avons une voiture.Show answer
Nous n'avons pas de voiture.une becomes de after pas
Make negative: Il est médecin.Show answer
Il n'est pas médecin.
Tu ___ (avoir) froid ?Show answer
asavoir froid = to be cold
On ___ (être) prêt ?Show answer
eston takes third-person singular
Frequently asked questions
Why is it j'ai vingt ans and never je suis vingt?
French expresses age with avoir: you have twenty years. Using être for age is a real error, so memorize the pattern J'ai ... ans as a fixed chunk along with the other avoir idioms like avoir faim and avoir froid.
How can I hear the difference between ils sont and ils ont?
Listen for the consonant between the words. Ils sont has an s sound: eel-SOHN. Ils ont has a liaison z: eel-ZOHN. The z means avoir; the s means être.
Why does pas turn un and une into de?
After a negation, the indefinite and partitive articles reduce to de: Je n'ai pas de frère, Il n'y a pas de pain. Definite articles are unaffected: Je n'aime pas le bruit.
Is it wrong to drop the ne in Je sais pas?
Dropping ne is standard in casual speech and you will hear it constantly. In writing and in any formal situation, keep the full ne ... pas. For a learner, producing the complete form is the safer habit.