Nallenart's Club Mimi

j'ai soif (zhay* SWAHF)** = I am thirsty

In English, we use the phrase "I am thirsty" to let someone know we need a drink. In this sentence "am," the being word, is used. To make the same statement in French, avoir (the having word) is used. The French phrase for "I am thirsty," j'ai soif, uses the having verb avoir. Even though this phrase literally means "I have thirst," we would translate it as "I am thirsty," because that is how we would say it in English.

This is what the different forms of this phrase look like in the
present tense.

j'ai soif -I am thirsty	nous avons soif -we are thirsty
tu as soif -you are thirsty	vous avez soif -you are thirsty
il a soif -he is thirsty	ils ont soif -they are thirsty
elle a soif -she is thirsty	elles ont soif -they are thirsty

For more work with AVOIR, download Nallenart's Avoir Workpages.

---

* zh sounds like "g" in beige or "s" in measure.
** Please keep in mind that these pronunciation guides give only a
crude approximation of the actual French sounds.