D’avoir (en. To have)

/davwaʁ/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

verb

Indicate possession.

I have a book.

J'ai un livre.

Express a necessity or obligation.

One must have courage.

Il faut avoir du courage.

Describe an experience or state.

I lived in Paris.

J'ai vécu à Paris.

From Latin 'habere', meaning 'to possess'.

to need

means to require something.

avoir besoin de

to look like

indicates an impression or appearance.

avoir l'air

to have a lot on one's plate

implies having a lot of work to do.

avoir du pain sur la planche

to take place

means to occur or happen.

avoir lieu

to have the right

indicates a legitimacy to something.

avoir droit

to want

expresses a desire.

avoir envie

To have style.

He really has style, you can tell he knows how to have it.

Il a vraiment du style, ça se voit qu'il sait d'avoir.

To be bummed out.

He lost his key, he's bummed out and says he has no luck.

Il a perdu sa clé, il a le seum et dit qu'il n'a pas de chance.