Nallenart's Club Mimi

avoir peur de = to be afraid of

The French phrase avoir peur de is another example of a French expression that uses avoir, to have, where English uses to be.

Eg.: Robert a peur des araignées. = Robert is afraid of spiders.

See if you can translate the following sentences.

     J'ai peur de ton chien.
     Danielle n'a pas peur des araignées.
     Paul a peur de ton frère.
     Est-ce que tu as peur des chiens?
     Non, je n'ai pas peur des chiens.

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

j'ai faim (zhay* FEH)** = I am hungry

In English, we use the phrase "I am hungry" to let someone know we need food. 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 hungry," j'ai faim, uses the having verb avoir.

Even though this phrase literally means "I have hunger," we would translate it as "I am hungry," because that is how we would say it in English. Faim is like the English word famine or famished.

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

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

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.

French uses the verb avoir to tell how old someone is.
   How old are you?
      Quel âge as-tu? (kel ahzh* ah tyoo)**
   I am ten years old.
      J’ai dix ans. (zhay* deez ah)**
Read the question, then answer in French.
   Quel âge as-tu?
      J'ai...
* 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.

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

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.

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* 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.