107 - 15 Expressions With 'Avoir' in French (but 'To Be' in English)

 
 

In this episode, you'll learn 15 expressions with the verb 'avoir' (to have) in French, but where the verb 'to be' is used in English.  E.g. J'ai 30 ans. (I am 30 years old.) 🤓

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Links & Cheat Sheet

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!

Hello everyone! Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast! This is episode number 107, numero 107.

So as you may or may not know, there are a few common expressions in French where we use the verb avoir (to have), whereas, in English, we use to verb "to be."

One example that you probably already know is when expressing age.

Par exemple 'J'ai 30 ans.'

The direct word-for-word translation would be 'I have 30 years old' because we use the verb 'avoir' (to have) in French to express age. But in English, you say, 'I am 30 years old.'

So it can often bring some confusion because it's not a direct word-for-word translation.

So in today's lesson, we will see 15 expressions using the verb 'avoir' (to have) in French, but where the verb 'to be' is used in English.

So it would be good if you don't know them all yet, that you learn these expressions by heart as they are pretty common.

Before we start, if you're new to the podcast, make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet in front of you during the lesson. There are no exercises for this particular lesson, but you can still head over to the French Made Easy Exercises library to access all the other exercises from previous episodes! All the links are in the episode notes.

Alright, so I'll give you the expression and a simple example sentence in French to see how to use it.

  • avoir 20 ans (to be 20 years old)

J'ai 30 ans. (I am thirty years old.)

  • avoir de la chance (to be lucky)

Elles ont de la chance. (They are very lucky.)

  • avoir chaud (to be hot)

On a trop chaud. (We are too hot.)

  • avoir froid (to be cold)

On n'a pas froid. (We are not cold.)

  • avoir faim (to be hungry)

Est-ce que vous avez faim ? (Are you hungry?)

  • avoir soif (to be thirsty)

Est-ce que vous avez soif ? (Are you thirsty?)

  • avoir l’habitude de (to be used to)

Nous avons l'habitude de prendre l'avion. (We are used to flying.)

  • avoir mal (to hurt/be in pain)

Il n'a pas mal. (He's not hurt.)

  • avoir peur de (to be afraid of)

Est-ce que tu as peur des araignées ? (Are you afraid of spiders.)

  • avoir raison (to be right)

J'ai souvent raison. (I'm often right.)

  • avoir tort (to be wrong)

Il n'a pas tort. (He's not wrong.)

  • avoir sommeil (to be sleepy)

Les enfants ont sommeil. (The kids are sleepy.)

  • avoir de la peine (to be sad)

Elle a de la peine. (She's sad.)

  • avoir honte de (to be ashamed of)

Ils ont honte de leur comportement. (They are ashamed of their behavior.)

  • avoir hâte de (to be looking forward to)

J'ai hâte de les aider. (I'm looking forward to helping them.)

Et voilà! That's the end of today's episode. Thanks so much for listening, I hope you liked it. And I'll chat with you in the next episode.

À bientôt. Bye. 😘

Mathilde Kien3 Comments