avoir

French

Alternative forms

• havoir

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French avoir, from Old French avoir, aveir, aver, from Latin habēre (“have, hold, possess”), probably from a Proto-Italic *habēō or *haβēō, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰ- (“to grab, to take”). Influenced and reinforced by similar (yet etymologically unrelated) verbs in Germanic; compare Frankish *habēn, Frankish *hebōn (“to have”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban, “to have”).

See closer cognates in regional languages in France: Angevin avouèr, Bourbonnais-Berrichon avoér, Bourguignon aivoi, Champenois aouâr, Corsican avè, Franco-Provençal avêr, Franc-Comtois aivoi, Gallo avair, Lorrain ahoir, Norman avaer, Occitan aver, Picard avoèr.

Further cognates include: Italian avere, Portuguese haver, Romanian avea, avere, and Sardinian (Campidanese airi, Logudorese àere), Spanish haber, and English aver (borrowed via Old French).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.vwaʁ/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -waʁ

Noun

avoir m (plural avoirs)

1. asset, possession

Verb

avoir

1. (transitive) to have (to own; to possess)

   Near-synonym: posséder

   J’aimerais avoir 20 dollars. ― I would like to have 20 dollars.

2. (auxiliary) to have (auxiliary verb to form compound past tenses of most verbs)

   Coordinate term: être

   J’ai parlé. ― I have spoken, I spoke.

   Qu’est-ce que vous m’avez fait ? ― What have you done to me?

3. (transitive) to have (a condition)

   J’ai faim. ― I'm hungry. (literally, “I have hunger.”)

   J’ai soif. ― I'm thirsty. (literally, “I have thirst.”)

   J’ai froid. ― I'm cold. (literally, “I have cold.”)

   J’ai chaud. ― I'm hot, I feel hot. (literally, “I have hot.”)

   J’ai la chiasse. ― I have the shits.

   J’ai le rhume. ― I have a cold.

   J’ai le SIDA. ― I have AIDS.

   J’ai de la fièvre. ― I've got a fever.

4. (transitive) to have (a measure or age)

   Elle a 19 ans. ― She is 19 years old. (literally, “She has 19 years.”)

5. (transitive) to have (to trick)

   Tu t’es fait avoir. ― You've been had.

6. (transitive) to have (to participate in an experience)

   avoir des relations sexuelles ― to have sexual relations

7. (transitive with à) to have (to), must

   J’ai à vous parler. ― I have to talk to you.

Usage notes

Avoir is often used with nouns like chaud (“heat”), faim (“hunger”), soif (“thirst”), peur (“fear”), etc. to express a personal condition or feeling, as shown in examples above. While constructions like être affamé (“to be starving/starved”) and être assoiffé (“to be thirsty”) exist, they are almost always used figuratively. It is always more natural to use avoir rather than être in the examples listed above, and other similar cases. In some cases, both verbs can be used, but with vastly different meanings:

J’ai chaud. ― I'm hot. (I feel hot) (literally, “I have heat.”)

Je suis chaud. ― I'm down for it. / I'm horny. / I'm on fire. (figuratively)

Conjugation

Derived terms

Pages starting with “avoir”.

• en avoir plus qu’assez
• il y a
• l’avoir mauvaise
• n’avoir que faire
• n’y a-t-il
• un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras
• y a-t-il
• y avoir

See also

• être

Further reading

• “avoir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Middle French

Alternative forms

• avoyr

Etymology

From Old French avoir, aveir, from Latin habēre, present active infinitive of habeō (“have, hold, possess”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰ- (“to grab, to take”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈvwɛr/

Verb

avoir

1. to have
2. (auxiliary) to have (verb used to form the perfect tense)

Conjugation

• Like Modern French avoir, highly irregular
• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Descendants

• French: avoir

References

• avoir on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Old French

Alternative forms

• aveir, aver (archaic or northern)
• avoyr (alternative spelling)

Etymology

From Latin habēre. Cognate with Old Occitan aver, haver, Old Spanish aver.

Pronunciation

• (archaic) IPA^(key): /aˈvei̯ɾ/
• (classical) IPA^(key): /aˈvoi̯ɾ/
• (late) IPA^(key): /aˈvo̯ɛɾ/

Verb

avoir

1. to have
2. (auxiliary) to have (verb used to form the perfect tense)
3. to exist (there is/there are)
   • c. 1200, Author unknown, Les quatres sohais Saint Martin:

     Un vilain ot en Normendie

     There was a peasant in Normandy

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Noun

avoir oblique singular, m (oblique plural avoirs, nominative singular avoirs, nominative plural avoir)

1. possession; good
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     C'est mes avoirs, c'est mes tresorz.

     It is my possession, it is my treasure.

   • c. 1250, Rutebeuf, Ci encoumence la vie de Sainte Marie l'Egypcienne:

     Robes, deniers ne autre avoir
     Ne voloit de l'autrui avoir.

     Not clothing, nor money, nor other possessions
     Did she want to have from others.

Descendants

Several via the form aveir.