Verb Avoir : Common Expressions in French Easy to Memorize
The French verb avoir (meaning 'to have') is an extremely important verb if you start learning French.
It's also used as an auxiliary verb in several tenses. The French verb avoir ("to have") is one of the most useful, flexible, and basic verbs in the French language, which is used in many everyday sentences, as well as idiomatic expressions.
French idiomatic expressions using avoir take you on a tour of the human condition, from feeling down, say your age, having charm to having the giggles, being right to being wrong.
In this week’s post, I share with you a list of these French expressions with the verb Faire divided into categories including idiomatic expressions.
French verb Avoir to express basic needs, pains or desires
Most of these verbs use the verb to be in English
Avoir + age: to have - Elle a 20 ans She is 20 years old
Avoir soif: to be thirsty -J’ai soif I am thirsty
Avoir faim : to be hungry- Est-ce que tu as faim ? Are you hungry?
Avoir sommeil: to feel sleepy - Le bébé a sommeil The baby feels sleppy
Avoir besoin: to need (followed by a noun or by a second verb non conjugated)- J’ai besoin d’une réponse demain I need an answer tomorrow
Avoir envie de: to feel like (followed by a noun or by a second verb non conjugated)- J’ai envie de boire une bière I feel like drinking a beer
Avoir mal à (au - à la): to have a pain in - J’ai mal au dos I have a pain in my back
Avoir un fou rire: to have a giggle - Elle a un fou rire à chaque fois qu’il parle - She has a giggle each time he speaks
Avoir du charme : to be charming - Cette femme a beaucoup de charme - This woman is charming
French verb Avoir to express feelings, statements
The verb avoir will express a wide variety of feelings or states of being. You can use avoir expressions to convey feelings and mental states:
Avoir raison: to be right - Tu as raison You are right
Avoir tord: to be wrong - Elle a tord She is wrong
Avoir peur: to be scared- Il a peur des araignées He is scared of spiders
Avoir horreur de: to hate something - Elle a horreur des serpents She hates snakes
Avoir de la chance: to be Lucky - Elle a beaucoup de chance She is very lucky
Avoir le cafard (idiom) - To feel down Il a la cafard (a cafard: a cockroach)
Avoir le coup de foudre (idiom): love at the first sight - Elle a eu un coup de foudre She immediately feel in love
Avoir un fou-rire: to burst out laughing -Elle a souvent des fou-rires She often burst out laughing
Avoir l’impression que: to have the sens that - J’ai l’impression qu’il ment I have the sense that he lies
Avoir l’air: to look like (+ adjective) - Elle a l’air fatiguée She looks tired
Avoir confiance en soi: to be self-confident - J’ai confiance en moi I am self-confident
Avoir en confiance en quelqu’un : to trust someone - Elle a confiance en toi She trusts you
Avoir hâte: to be looking forward to doing something - J’ai hâte de partir en vacances I am looking forward to going on vacations
Avoir l’habitude de: to be used to - Il a l’habitude de se lever tôt He is used to get up early
Avoir honte de: to be ashamed - Il a honte de son père He is ashamed of his father
Private French lessons with French à La Carte
Whether you are in Paris for a short stay, on business, building a new life in France, or are based anywhere around the world, French à la Carte provides tailor-made private French lessons to match your specific linguistic goals.
Conversational French, business French, French for visitors, preparation for examinations, language immersion in Paris, French for children, for all these options our teaching approach is focused on your specific needs, and will include the skills you need to practise: speaking, comprehension, and writing.