📖LearnModule 2 · Lesson 2 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, completedUnit 1 · Le présent — the full present tense
Avoir — the whole present
Module 2 of the free French course (CEFR A1, completed), lesson 2 of 30: Avoir completes the same way: nous avons, vous avez, ils ont / elles ont. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 2.
The words
French
English
Say it
nous avons
we have
noo zah-VOH(n)
vous avez
you have (polite/plural)
voo zah-VAY
ils ont
they have (m)
eel ZOH(n)
elles ont
they have (f)
ehl ZOH(n)
nous avons faim
we are hungry
noo zah-voh(n) FA(n)
j'ai faim
I am hungry
zhay FA(n)
j'ai soif
I am thirsty
zhay SWAHF
la faim
the hunger
lah FA(n)
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
Avoir completes the same way: nous avons, vous avez, ils ont / elles ont. The s of nous, vous, ils links into the vowel: noo-zah-VOH(n).
Et aussi · And also
Ils sont (they are) and ils ont (they have) differ by one linked sound: eel SOH(n) vs eel ZOH(n). Say the pair until your ear owns it.
Attention · Watch out
ils sont (they are) and ils ont (they have) differ by one linked sound: eel SOH(n) against eel ZOH(n). The z is the whole difference.
avoir — the table
je ai · tu as · il/elle a · nous avons · vous avez · ils/elles ont
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with nous avons.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out avoir in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.