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How to conjugate avoir (to have) in French in all tenses & moods

The verb “avoir” is key in French. It’s not only one of the most used words in the “langue de Molières”, but also the most common auxiliary — or helping — verb.

It’s used to:

  • State a possession - J’ai une maison sur la Côte d’Azur / I have a house on the French Riviera (lucky you!)
  • Explain a relationship (family or not) - J’ai une grande soeur / I have an older sister
  • Say your age - J’ai 20 ans / I am 20
  • Express the most basic needs - J’ai faim / I’m hungry, J’ai froid / I’m cold, J’ai sommeil / I’m sleepy
  • Express your emotions and the way you feel (both physically and mentally) - J’ai peur / I’m scared, J’ai mal à la tête / I have a headache
  • Conjugate other French verbs in the passé composé and other compound tenses - J’ai fait du vélo aujourd’hui / I rode my bike today
  • Express a craving or a wish - J’ai envie de fromage / I’m craving cheese (who doesn’t?)
  • And so much more!

That’s a lot of reasons to learn this French vocab chameleon, don’t you think?

Yes, “avoir” has it all, so keep reading to learn avoir conjugation in French!


The verb avoir

Avoir means “to have”, as a standalone verb. But this little guy is also an auxiliary verb to indicate a verb tense.

Oh, and this legen — wait for it — dary word can also be a noun. In that case, it basically means “store credit” or “asset”.

Unfortunately for everyone who is allergic to grammar, our dear avoir is irregular. But the good news is, you’ll use it so much when speaking and learning French that you’ll know the main avoir conjugations in no time!


French verb “to have” conjugation chart

Before digging into the conjugations, be sure to have a look at our article on French pronouns.

Man meditating.

Present tense

Mindfulness is all about focusing on the present moment.

So, say “oooooom” and learn the present of “avoir”!

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’aiI haveJ’ai un lapin. (More animals in French here).I have a rabbit.
Tu asYou haveTu as un lapin.You have a rabbit.
Il/Elle aHe/she hasIl/Elle a un lapin.He/she has a rabbit.
Nous avonsWe haveNous avons un lapin.We have a rabbit.
Vous avezYou (all) haveVous avez un lapin.You (all) have a rabbit.
Ils/Elles ontThey haveIls/Elles ont un lapin.They have a rabbit.


Imperfect

The imparfait is the easiest tense to talk about the past in French. It’s also one of the easiest to learn, as it doesn’t vary much, even for irregular verbs. (Im)parfait !

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’avaisI hadJ’avais un lapin.I had a rabbit.
Tu avaisYou hadTu avais un lapin.You had a rabbit.
Il/Elle avaitHe/she hadIl/Elle avait un lapin.He/she had a rabbit.
Nous avionsWe hadNous avions un lapin.We had a rabbit.
Vous aviezYou (all) hadVous aviez un lapin.You (all) had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles avaientThey hadIls/Elles avaient un lapin.They had a rabbit.


Future

They say the future is now. Ok, let’s not make this more confusing! The future tense allows us to express something that will happen… drum rolls… in the future!

What about an alternate future?

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’auraiI will haveJ’aurai un lapin.I will have a rabbit.
Tu auraYou will haveTu auras un lapin.You will have a rabbit.
Il/Elle auraHe/she will haveIl/Elle aura un lapin.He/she will have a rabbit.
Nous auronsWe will haveNous aurons un lapin.We will have a rabbit.
Vous aurezYou (all) will haveVous aurez un lapin.You (all) will have a rabbit.
Ils/Elles aurontThey will haveIls/Elles auront un lapin.They will have a rabbit.


Conditional (present)

The French conditionnel can be used as a tense and as a mood. As a tense, it’s used to express the future from a point of view in the past. As a mood, it’s used to express a fictional/hypothetical reality.

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’auraisI would haveJ’aurais un lapin.I would have a rabbit.
Tu auraisYou would haveTu aurais un lapin.You would have a rabbit.
Il/Elle auraitHe/she would haveIl/Elle aurait un lapin.He/she would have a rabbit.
Nous aurionsWe would haveNous aurions un lapin.We would have a rabbit.
Vous auriezYou (all) would haveVous auriez un lapin.You (all) would have a rabbit.
Ils/Elles auraientThey would haveIls/Elles auraient un lapin.They would have a rabbit.


Subjunctive (present)

Widely used in French and other Romance languages, the subjunctive indicates subjectivity, uncertainty or unreality.

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’aieI haveIl voudrait que j’aie un lapin.He would like me to have a rabbit.
Tu aiesYou haveIl voudrait que tu aies un lapin.He would like you to have a rabbit.
Il/Elle aitHe/she hasIl voudrait qu’il/elle ait un lapin.He would like him/her to have a rabbit.
Nous ayonsWe haveIl voudrait que nous ayons un lapin.He would like us to have a rabbit.
Vous ayezYou (all) haveIl voudrait que vous ayez un lapin.He would like you (all) to have a rabbit.
Ils/Elles aientThey haveIl voudrait qu’ils/elles aient un lapin.He would like them to have a rabbit.


Imperfect subjunctive

Admittedly, the pompous imperfect subjunctive is not used anymore, except in literature and history. It’s used when linked to a subordinate clause in the past. However, nowadays, it has been replaced by the past subjunctive (see below) or present subjunctive (see above).

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’eusseI hadIl aurait souhaité que j’eusse un lapin.He wished I had a rabbit.
Tu eussesYou hadIl aurait souhaité que tu eusses un lapin.He wished you had a rabbit.
Il/Elle eûtHe/she hadIl aurait souhaité qu’il/elle eût un lapin.He wished he/she had a rabbit.
Nous eussionsWe hadIl aurait souhaité que nous eussions un lapin.He wished we had a rabbit.
Vous eussiezYou (all) hadIl aurait souhaité que vous eussiez un lapin.He wished you (all) had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles eussentThey hadIl aurait souhaité qu’ils/elles eussent un lapin.He wished they had a rabbit.


Passé composé

Don’t let its name put you off. The passé composé is very easy to learn, and even more so for the verb “have” as you get two “avoir” for the price of one!

They had a rabbit.

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’ai euI hadJ’ai eu un lapin.I had a rabbit.
Tu as euYou hadTu as eu un lapin.You had a rabbit.
Il/Elle a euHe/she hadIl/Elle a eu un lapin.He/she had a rabbit.
Nous avons euWe hadNous avons eu un lapin.We had a rabbit.
Vous avez euYou (all) hadVous avez eu un lapin.You (all) had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles ont euThey hadIls/Elles ont eu un lapin.They had a rabbit.


Past perfect

Same structure as the passé composé, but the first “avoir” is in the past tense.

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’avais euI have hadJ’avais eu un lapin.I have had a rabbit.
Tu avais euYou have hadTu avais eu un lapin.You have had a rabbit.
Il/Elle avait euHe/she has hadIl/Elle avait eu un lapin.He/she have had a rabbit.
Nous avions euWe have hadNous avions eu un lapin.We have had a rabbit.
Vous aviez euYou (all) have hadVous aviez eu un lapin.You (all) have had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles avaient euThey have hadIls/Elles avaient eu un lapin.They have had a rabbit.


Future perfect

This is pretty advanced but will surely help you stand out! The futur antérieur expresses a future event or action that will be completed before another future event or action.

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’aurai euI will have hadJ’aurai eu un lapin.I will have had a rabbit.
Tu auras euYou will have hadTu auras eu un lapin.You will have had rabbit.
Il/Elle aura euHe/she will have hadIl/Elle aura eu un lapin.He/she will have had a rabbit.
Nous aurons euWe will have hadNous aurons un lapin.We will have had a rabbit.
Vous aurez euYou (all) will have hadVous aurez eu un lapin.You (all) will have had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles auront euThey will have hadIls/Elles auront eu un lapin.They will have had a rabbit.


Past conditional

The past conditional in French can be used to talk about something that could, would or should have, but didn't happen.

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’aurais euI would have hadJ’aurais eu un lapin.I would have had a rabbit.
Tu aurais euYou would have hadTu aurais eu un lapin.You would have had a rabbit.
Il/Elle aurait euHe/she would have hadIl/Elle aurait eu un lapin.He/she would have had a rabbit.
Nous aurionsWe would have hadNous aurions un lapin.We would have had a rabbit.
Vous auriezYou (all) would have hadVous auriez eu un lapin.You (all) would have had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles auriontThey would have hadIls/Elles auriont eu un lapin.They would have had a rabbit.


Past subjunctive

In French, the past subjunctive is used to express doubt, emotion or uncertainty.

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’aie euI had hadIl aurait souhaité que j’aie eu un lapin.He wished I had had a rabbit.
Tu aies euYou had hadIl aurait souhaité que tu aies un lapin.He wished you had had a rabbit.
Il/Elle ait euHe/she had hadIl aurait souhaité qu’il/elle ait un lapin.He wished he/she had had a rabbit.
Nous ayons euWe had hadIl aurait souhaité que nous ayons un lapin.He wished we had had a rabbit.
Vous ayez euYou (all) had hadIl aurait souhaité que vous ayez un lapin.He wished you (all) had had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles aient euThey had hadIl aurait souhaité qu’ils/elles aient un lapin.He wished they had had a rabbit.


Pluperfect subjunctive

This is a very rare and so very vintage verb form. The perfect occasion to show off!

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’eusse euI would have hadJ’eusse eu un lapin.I would have had a rabbit.
Tu eusses euYou would have hadTu eusses eu un lapin.You would have had a rabbit.
Il/Elle eût euHe/she would have hadIl/Elle eusse eu un lapin.He/she would have had a rabbit.
Nous eussions euWe would have hadNous eussions eu un lapin.We would have had a rabbit.
Vous eussiez euYou (all) would have hadVous eussiez eu un lapin.You (all) would have had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles eussent euThey would have hadIls/Elles eussent eu un lapin.They would have had a rabbit.


Passé simple

While not so common in current spoken French, you’ll find the passé simple in many books which take place in the past.

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’eusI hadJ’eus un lapin.I had a rabbit.
Tu eusYou hadTu eus un lapin.You had a rabbit.
Il/Elle eutHe/she hadIl/Elle eut un lapin.He/she had a rabbit.
Nous eûmesWe hadNous eûmes un lapin.We had a rabbit.
Vous eûtesYou (all) hadVous eûtes un lapin.You (all) had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles eurentThey hadIls/Elles eurent un lapin.They had a rabbit.


Past anterior

Ok, it’s quite unlikely that you’ll ever need this tense. But it’s a wonderful tongue twisting exercise with the “avoir” verb!

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
J’eus euI would have hadJ’eus eu un lapin.I would have had a rabbit.
Tu eus euYou would have hadTu eus eu un lapin.You would have had a rabbit.
Il/Elle eut euHe/she would have hadIl/Elle eut eu un lapin.He/she would have had a rabbit.
Nous eûmes euWe would have hadNous eûmes eu un lapin.We would have had a rabbit.
Vous eûtes euYou (all) would have hadVous eûtes eu un lapin.You (all) would have had a rabbit.
Ils/Elles eurent euThey would have hadIls/Elles eurent eu un lapin.They would have had a rabbit.


Imperative mood

You won’t hear our example sentence below very often, unless someone is really keen on you adopting a rabbit. More frequently, “avoir” in the imperative mood is used with the negative tense, for example: N’ayez crainte/N’ayez pas peur (Don’t be scared).

FrenchEnglishExample sentenceTranslation
AieHaveAie un lapin.Have a rabbit.
AyonsLet’s haveAyons un lapin.Let’s have a rabbit.
AyezHave (all)Ayez un lapin.Have (all) a rabbit.


The verb “avoir” is a real Jack of all trades.

If you need a little music help to learn it, listen to this tribute song to Ella Fitzgerald by France Galle: Ella elle l’a. The title is a pun with “Elle l’a” (She’s got it) and “Ella”.

And si tu as envie to take your French skills to the next level, check out our articles on adjectives and possessive adjectives in French.

Tu as tout compris ? Alors j’ai accompli ma mission !

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