French verbs : Avoir

Auxiliary verbs: 1. avoir - forms and use

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Auxiliaries are functional verbs that are added to other verbs in order to form particular tenses.

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".

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 !.

►Secondly it is an auxiliary which combines with the past participle of most French verbs to form certain tenses.

Examples:
I've broken my computer
J'ai cassé mon ordinateur.
The president has promised to introduce several reforms.
Le président a promis d'introduire plusieurs réformes.
The child had lost his mother
L'enfant avait perdu sa maman.
I'd have failed if my brother hadn't helped me
J'aurais échoué si mon frère ne m'avait pas aidé

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. Indicative tenses 1 :
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
the present indicative is also used as an auxiliary to form the perfect (passé composé) tense
The future indicative is also used as an auxiliary to form the future-perfect (futur-antérieur tense)
The imperfect indicative is also used as an auxiliary to form the pluperfect or past perfect (passé antérieur) tense

Table 2. Indicative tenses 2 - past tenses :
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
The preterire indicative is also used as an alternative auxiliary to form the pluperfect or past perfect (passé antérieur) tense. In the case of the verb avoir, this is rarely - if ever - used; example j'eus eu

Table 3. Future-perfect and conditional :
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

Table 4

.	Imperative	.	Present participle
Person	(have)
2nd Singular	aies	.	ayant
1st plural	ayons	.
2nd plural	ayez	.

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

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.

► Continue with the auxiliary être

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