The verb avior (to have)

The Verb avoir (to have)

Avoir most often expresses ownership or possession.

Present Tense of avoir (to have)

SINGULAR                              PLURAL

 1st     j’ai I have                       1st      nous avons we have

2nd     tu as you have (fam.)         2nd     vous avez you have (pol. s.;fam./pol. pl.)

                                            3rd il/elle/on a he/she/it/one          3rd ils/elles ont they have

                                         has,                                                    we have

Let us look at some examples of avoir used in sentences

 Tu as un chat?                                Do you have a cat?

—Non, mais j’ai un perroquet.       —No, but I have a parrot.

Nous avons de bons amis.            We have good friends.

Nos amis ont du temps                   Our friends have time today.

aujourd’hui.

Ne... pas de... with avoir

In negative sentences with avoir and also with most other verbs, the indefinite article un/une/des becomes de/d’ after the negation ne... pas. The form d’ is used before vowel sounds. The noun that follows de/d’ can be singular or plural.

Michel a une bicyclette.                 Michel has a bicycle.

Marlène n’a pas de bicyclette      Marlène doesn’t have a bicycle,

               et je n’ai pas de voiture.               and I don’t have a car.

Nous n’avons pas de bagages.             We have no luggage.

Vous n’avez pas d’amis?                        You don’t have (any) friends?

Acknowledgements