J'avois (en. I had)

/ʒavwa/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

verb

First person singular of the imperfect tense of the verb 'to have'.

When I had a cat, I took care of it all the time.

Quand j'avois un chat, je m'en occupais tout le temps.

Used to express an action or state in the past.

I had a lot of homework to do.

J'avois beaucoup de devoirs à faire.

A literary or old-fashioned way of saying 'I had'.

In my youth, I had dreams in my head.

Dans ma jeunesse, j'avois des rêves plein la tête.

Contracted form of 'j'avais', from Latin 'habebam', meaning to possess.

I wasn't upset.

I wasn't jealous.

j'avois pas l'seum

I thought it was true.

j'avois cru

Before I had.

In the past, I had.

avant j'avois

to have

Verb meaning to possess.

avoir

to possess

To have something in one's ownership.

posséder

to hold

To keep in one's possession.

détenir

A feeling of regret for the past.

I had a good job before, why did I resign?

J'avois un bon boulot avant, pourquoi j'ai démissionné ?

Used to express a waste of time.

I spent hours on this project with no results.

J'avois passé des heures sur ce projet sans résultat.