Avoir Conjugation: Every Tense With Examples

Avoir means to have, and it is in almost every French sentence you will ever say. It tells people your age (j'ai trente ans), says you are hungry (j'ai faim), points out what is around you (il y a un café ici) and, most of all, builds the past tense of most French verbs: j'ai mangé, j'ai vu, j'ai compris. If you get avoir right, half of your past tense is already done.

This page gives you the full avoir conjugation in every tense you need, with simple pronunciation hints, 10 example sentences, the avoir expressions that English says with "to be", and the mistakes I correct most often in lessons, starting with the one that turns "they have" into "they are".

Avoir conjugation in the present tense

Learn this table first. You will use it every day.

Two things make this table easier than it looks. First, je always becomes j' in front of ai, because French drops the vowel before another vowel. Second, tu as and il a sound the same (ah), so in speech you really only have four sounds to learn.

The plural forms are where the real work is. The University of Texas French program points out that the s of nous, vous and ils is pronounced as a z to link with the vowel of the verb, and that this link is what distinguishes ils ont (they have) from ils sont (they are).

Tip from class: I ask students to say ils ont with a buzzing z, like a bee: eel-ZZZOHN. Then ils sont with a hissing s, like a snake: eel-SSSOHN. Bee means avoir, snake means être. It sounds silly, and it works.

Avoir in the passé composé: j'ai eu

Avoir is its own helper verb. You build its passé composé with the present of avoir plus the past participle eu.

The participle eu is a single sound, the French u (round your lips as if to whistle and say "ee"). It is not "you" and it is not "uh".

In the passé composé, avoir often means got or received, a one-time event: j'ai eu mon permis (I got my driver's license), elle a eu un bébé (she had a baby), on a eu de la chance (we were lucky). For a state that lasted, like "I had a dog when I was a kid", you need the imparfait instead, which is the next table.

Avoir is also the helper for most other verbs in the past. The University of Texas grammar puts it simply: in most cases the auxiliary is avoir, and only some verbs take être. If you are not sure which verbs belong to the être group, our être conjugation guide lists them with a memory trick.

Avoir in the imparfait: j'avais

The imparfait is regular: take avons, drop -ons, add the imparfait endings.

Use it for descriptions, habits and background in the past: Quand j'avais dix ans, j'avais un chat (When I was ten, I had a cat). Notice the age again: French says "when I had ten years".

The plus-que-parfait combines both: j'avais eu, "I had had". It looks strange on paper but you will see it in stories: il avait eu peur, he had been scared.

Choosing between j'ai eu and j'avais is a classic exam question. Our guide to passé composé vs imparfait walks through the decision with examples.

Avoir in the future and the conditional

Both tenses use the irregular stem aur-, pronounced oh-R.

J'aurai (future) and j'aurais (conditional) sound almost alike, so the difference matters most in writing. A quick check: if you can replace it with "would", add the s.

The conditional is everywhere in polite French. Vous auriez un stylo ? (Would you have a pen?) is softer than vous avez un stylo ?, and you will hear it in every shop. It also builds the past conditional: j'aurais dû (I should have), j'aurais aimé (I would have liked), two phrases my adult students use constantly once they learn them.

Avoir in the subjunctive and the imperative

These forms are fully irregular, and nous ayons and vous ayez have no i after the y: ayons, never ayions. You need them after il faut que, je veux que, bien que and similar triggers: Il faut que tu aies ton passeport (You need to have your passport). If those triggers are new to you, our page on the French subjunctive explained simply lists them.

The imperative borrows the subjunctive forms: aie, ayons, ayez. You will mostly meet it in two fixed phrases: N'aie pas peur ! (Don't be afraid!) and Ayez la gentillesse de… (Please be kind enough to…), a formal phrase you will see in letters and emails.

The remaining forms: present participle ayant (having), past participle eu (had). The passé simple, il eut, ils eurent, shows up in novels. Recognize it, do not try to use it.

Avoir expressions: when English says "to be"

The University of Texas grammar notes that English often translates these idioms with "to be" rather than "to have". This is why they cause so many mistakes.

Tip from class: I tell students to imagine the French carry their feelings in a backpack. Hunger, thirst, cold, fear, even their age: they all go in the backpack, so you have them. If you can put it in the backpack, use avoir.

Il y a: there is, there are, and ago

Il y a is built on avoir, and it never changes for plural: il y a un problème (there is a problem), il y a trois enfants (there are three children). To change the time, change avoir: il y avait (there was, there used to be), il y a eu (there was, a single event), il y aura (there will be).

Followed by a length of time, il y a means ago: je suis arrivé il y a deux ans, I arrived two years ago.

10 example sentences with avoir

1. J'ai deux frères et une sœur. I have two brothers and a sister.
2. Tu as quel âge ? How old are you?
3. Elle a mal à la tête depuis ce matin. She has had a headache since this morning.
4. Nous avons besoin d'un plus grand appartement. We need a bigger apartment.
5. Vous avez raison, c'est trop cher. You're right, it's too expensive.
6. Ils ont froid, ferme la fenêtre. They're cold, close the window.
7. J'ai eu mon examen de français ! I passed my French exam! (literally, I got it)
8. Quand nous étions à Québec, nous avions une petite voiture. When we were in Québec City, we had a small car.
9. Tu auras le temps demain ? Will you have time tomorrow?
10. J'aurais dû t'appeler. I should have called you.

Common mistakes English speakers make

• Mistake: Je suis faim. → Say instead: J'ai faim. Hunger, thirst, cold, heat, fear and age use avoir.
• Mistake: Je suis vingt-cinq. → Say instead: J'ai vingt-cinq ans. Always add ans.
• Mistake: Ils ont pronounced with an s sound. → Say instead: eel-ZOHN, with a z. With an s, you are saying ils sont, they are.
• Mistake: Je ai. → Say instead: J'ai. The e always drops.
• Mistake: Je avoirai or j'averai. → Say instead: J'aurai. The future stem is aur-.
• Mistake: Il faut que j'ai… → Say instead: Il faut que j'aie… After a subjunctive trigger, write aie.

Practice

Fill in the correct form of avoir.

1. Mon fils ___ sept ans. (present)
2. Est-ce que vous ___ soif ? (present)
3. Hier, j'___ ___ une bonne nouvelle. (passé composé)
4. Quand ils étaient petits, ils ___ un chien. (imparfait)
5. Je veux que tu ___ confiance en toi. (subjunctive)

Answers: 1. a · 2. avez · 3. ai eu · 4. avaient · 5. aies

If these felt easy, say each answer out loud and listen for the z link in vous avez and ils avaient. The free French Keys flashcards are a quick way to review the present forms for five minutes a day.

In short

Avoir is irregular, so memorize the present first (j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont) and make the z sound in the plural so ils ont never turns into ils sont. Its passé composé is j'ai eu, its future stem is aur-, and it builds the past of most other verbs. To see avoir next to the verbs you will need next, start with our list of the most common French verbs, then compare it with a verb that takes être in the past in our venir conjugation guide.

If you want someone to listen to your ils ont and ils sont and tell you exactly what to fix, book a free 30-minute assessment with Magali. You will leave with a clear plan for the verbs and tenses that matter at your level.