1. Avoir Avoir - to have - is a verb with two roles ►Firstly it is a lexical verb in its own right, meaning "
to have" or "
to possess".
Example: Il a trois chats et un chien - he has three cats and a dog.
►Secondly it is an auxiliary which combines with the past participle most French verbs to form certain tenses.
Principal tenses formed using the auxiliary
avoir:
►
The perfect or composite past (passé composé). Formed with the
present tense of avoir and a past participle.
Example:
J'ai mangé -
I've eaten ►
The pluperfect or past-perfect (passé antérieur). Formed with the
imperfect tense of avoir and a past participle.
Example:
J'avais mangé - I had eaten ►
The future-perfect (futur antérieur). Formed with the
future tense of avoir and a past participle.
Example:
J'aurai mangé - I will have eaten ►
The past conditional (passé conditionnel). Formed with the conditional tense of avoir and a past participle.
Example:
J'aurais mangé - I would have eaten Verb tables: Avoir Note: For
each tense, a sample English equivalent is given for the first person
singular. This represents the most common translation of the tense in
question, but
not the only possibility.
Table 1.
| Tenses (indicative) : |
| Person | Present
(I have) | Future
(I will have) | Imperfect
(I had / was having) |
| 1st Singular. | j'ai | j'aurai | j'avais |
| 2nd Singular | tu as | tu auras | tu avais |
| 3rd Singular | il / elle / on ... a | il (..) aura | il (..) avait |
| 1st plural | nous avons | nous aurons | nous avions |
| 2nd plural | vous avez | vous aurez | vous aviez |
| 3rd plural | ils / elles ont | ils auront | ils avaient |
| Notes | Used as an auxiliary to form the perfect (passé composé) tense | Used as an auxiliary to form the future-perfect (futur-antérieur tense) | Used as an auxiliary to form the pluperfect or past perfect (passé antérieur) tense |
Table 2
| Tenses (indicative): |
| Person | Preterite
(I had) | Perfect (passé composé)
(I have had) | Pluperfect
(I'd had) |
| 1st Singular. | j'eus | j'ai eu | j'avais eu |
| 2nd Singular | tu eus | tu as eu | tu avais eu |
| 3rd Singular | il (..) eut | il (..) a eu | il avait eu |
| 1st plural | nous eûmes | nous avons eu | nous avions eu |
| 2nd plural | vous eûtes | vous avez eu | vous aviez eu |
| 3rd plural | ils eurent | ils ont eu | ils avaient eu |
| Notes | Alternative auxiliary to form the pluperfect or past perfect (passé antérieur) tense.
Not commonly used | | |
Table 3
| Tenses (indicative): |
| Person | Future perfect
(I will have had) | Conditional
(I would have) | Past conditional
(I would have had) |
| 1st Singular. | j'aurai eu | j'aurais | j'aurais eu |
| 2nd Singular | tu auras eu | tu aurais | tu aurais eu |
| 3rd Singular | il aura eu | il aurait | il aurait eu |
| 1st plural | nous aurons eu | nous aurions | nous aurions eu |
| 2nd plural | vous aurez eu | vous auriez | vous auriez eu |
| 3rd plural | ils auront eu | ils auraient | ils auraient eu |
| Notes | | | |
Table 4
| Imperative | | Present participle |
| Person | (have)
| | |
| 2nd Singular | aies | | ayant |
| 1st plural | ayons | | |
| 2nd plural | ayez | | |
| Notes | | | |
Table 5
| Tenses (subjunctive) : |
| Person | Present
(may have) | preterite
(might have) | Perfect (parfait)
(may have had) |
| 1st Singular. | aie | eusse | aie eu |
| 2nd Singular | aies | eusses | aies eu |
| 3rd Singular | ait | eût | ait eu |
| 1st plural | ayons | eussions | ayons eu |
| 2nd plural | ayez | eussiez | ayez eu |
| 3rd plural | aient | eussent | aient eu |
| Notes | | (rare) | (rare) |
Further subjunctive cases - such as a pluperfect subjunctive - can
theoretically be formed, though to all intents and purposes these are
never used in modern French.
Examples:
We have a beautiful black cat
- Nous avons un beau chat noir.
Tomorrow I'll have plenty of time.
Demain j'aurai beaucoup de temps.
The professor had several research assistants
Le professeur avait plusieurs assistants de recherche.
You've had enough time !.
Vous avez eu assez de temps.
You'll have had enough of it by tomorrow.
Vous en aurez eu assez d'ici demain..
It's possible that he may have flu.
Il est possible qu'il ait la grippe.
Have some respect, please.
Ayez du respect, s'il vous plaît !.
