avoir

== French == === Alternative forms === havoir (obsolete, rare) aoir, a'oir, awoir (Louisiana) === Etymology === Inherited from Middle French avoir, from Old French avoir, aveir, aver, from Latin habēre (“have, hold, possess”), probably from a Proto-Italic *habēō or *haβēō, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰ- (“to grab, to take”). Influenced and reinforced by similar (yet etymologically unrelated) verbs in Germanic; compare Frankish *habbjan (“to have”), Old High German habēn (“to have”), Old Norse hafa (“to have”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban, “to have”). See closer cognates in regional languages in France: Angevin avouèr, Bourbonnais-Berrichon avoér, Bourguignon aivoi, Champenois aouâr, Corsican avè, Franco-Provençal avêr, Franc-Comtois aivoi, Gallo avair, Lorrain ahoir, Norman avaer, Occitan aver, Picard avoèr. Further cognates include: Italian avere, Portuguese haver, Romanian avea, avere, and Sardinian (Campidanese airi, Logudorese àere), Sicilian aviri, Spanish haber, and English aver (borrowed via Old French). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /a.vwaʁ/ (Louisiana) IPA(key): [a.waɾ], [a.vwaɾ] Rhymes: -aʁ Hyphenation: a‧voir === Verb === avoir (transitive) to have; to own; to possess; to get Near-synonym: posséder J'ai beaucoup d'abonnés. ― I have lots of followers. J'aimerais bien avoir 20 dollars. ― I would very much like to have 20 dollars. (transitive) to have; to experience or suffer from a state or condition avoir faim ― to be hungry (literally, “to have hunger”) avoir soif ― to be thirsty (literally, “to have thirst”) avoir froid ― to be cold (literally, “to have cold”) avoir chaud ― to be hot, to feel hot (literally, “I to have heat”) avoir raison ― to be right, to be correct (literally, “to have reason”) avoir tort ― to be wrong (literally, “to have wrong”) avoir des relations sexuelles ― to have sexual relations avoir mal au dos ― to have backache avoir le rhume ― to have a cold avoir le SIDA ― to have AIDS avoir de la fièvre ― to have a fever. (transitive) to have (an age) Elle a 19 ans. ― She is 19 years old. (literally, “She has 19 years.”) (auxiliary) used to form the compound tenses of most verbs, such as the perfect and pluperfect. Coordinate term: être J'ai parlé. ― I have spoken, I spoke. Qu'est-ce que vous m'avez fait ? ― What have you done to me? Elle a eu une bonne note. ― She got a good grade. (auxiliary) to have (to), must [with à (+ infinitive)] J'ai à vous parler. ― I have to talk to you. Nous avons beaucoup à faire. ― We have a lot to do. (idiomatic) (chiefly in se faire avoir) to have (to trick; to con) Tu t'es fait avoir. ― You've been had. ==== Usage notes ==== Avoir is often used with nouns like chaud (“heat”), faim (“hunger”), soif (“thirst”), peur (“fear”), etc. to express a personal condition or feeling, as shown in examples above. While constructions like être affamé (“to be starving/starved”) and être assoiffé (“to be thirsty”) exist, they are almost always used figuratively. It is always more natural to use avoir rather than être in the examples listed above, and other similar cases. In some cases, both verbs can be used, but with vastly different meanings: J'ai chaud. ― I'm hot. (I feel hot) (literally, “I have heat.”) Je suis chaud. ― I'm up for it. / I'm keen / I'm horny. (informal) / I'm on fire. (figuratively) Formerly, it was considered incorrect to use adverbs such as très in these constructions, since they would technically be modifying a noun, not an adjective. However, today, constructions such as J'ai très peur are considered correct and normal. ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Derived terms ==== See also: French terms starting with “avoir” === Noun === avoir m (plural avoirs) asset, possession === See also === être (“to be”) === Further reading === “avoir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == Middle French == === Alternative forms === avoyr === Etymology === From Old French avoir, aveir, from Latin habēre, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰ- (“to grab, to take”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /aˈvwɛr/ === Verb === avoir to have (auxiliary) to have (verb used to form the perfect tense) ==== Conjugation ==== Like Modern French avoir, highly irregular Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive. ==== Descendants ==== French: avoir === References === avoir on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French) == Old French == === Alternative forms === aveir, aver (archaic or northern) avoyr (alternative spelling) === Etymology === From Latin habēre. Cognate with Old Occitan aver, haver, Old Spanish aver. === Pronunciation === (archaic) IPA(key): /aˈvei̯ɾ/ (classical) IPA(key): /aˈvoi̯ɾ/ (late) IPA(key): /aˈvo̯ɛɾ/ === Verb === avoir to have (auxiliary) to have (verb used to form the perfect tense) to exist (there is/there are) ==== Conjugation ==== This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide. === Noun === avoir oblique singular, m (oblique plural avoirs, nominative singular avoirs, nominative plural avoir) possession; good ==== Descendants ==== Several via the form aveir.