L'avais (en. Had it)

/la.vɛ/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

verb

Indicates a state or possession in the past.

I had a dog when I was a child.

J'avais un chien quand j'étais enfant.

Expresses an action or situation that took place before another moment in the past.

Before moving, I had lived here for ten years.

Avant de déménager, j'avais vécu ici pendant dix ans.

Used to form compound tenses.

He had already eaten when I arrived.

Il avait déjà mangé quand je suis arrivé.

Contraction of 'I had it', where 'it' is an object pronoun.

I had promised it.

indicates a commitment or promise made previously.

je l'avais promis

If I had known.

expresses a regret about information that could have changed a decision.

si j'avais su

I could have had it.

indicates an unrealized possibility in the past.

j'aurais pu l'avoir

to have

Verb that expresses possession or existence.

avoir

had

Conjugated form of the verb to have in the third person singular in the imperfect tense.

avait

had

Past participle of the verb to have.

To have the chance to do something but not having done it.

I had the chance to go out, but I stayed home.

J'avais l'occasion de sortir, mais je suis resté chez moi.

Refers to something unreal in the past.

If I had known, I would have taken another path.

Si j'avais su, j'aurais pris un autre chemin.