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avoir

to have

verb ah-VWAR Common
Grammar & Structure Particles

Usage Note

Avoir powers a huge family of idioms where English reaches for 'to be' — avoir faim means to be hungry, avoir froid to be cold, and avoir vingt ans to be twenty years old. It is also the main past-tense auxiliary, as in j'ai mangé for 'I ate', and as a noun les avoirs means financial assets.

Examples

"J'ai deux frères."

Natural Translation

I have two brothers.

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