A1BeginnerVerbs · Point 2 / 40

je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles

These are the two most-used verbs.

Person	“Avoir”	Meaning
je	j'ai	the pronoun “I”; “j’ai” = “I have”, “je suis” = “I am”
tu	tu as	the informal pronoun “you”; “tu as” = “you have”, “tu es” = “you are”
il, elle, on	il a	“he/she/one”; “il a” = “he has”, “il est” = “he is”
nous	nous avons	“we”; “nous avons” = “we have”, “nous sommes” = “we are”
vous	vous avez	formal or plural “you”; “vous avez” = “you have”, “vous êtes” = “you are”
ils, elles	ils ont	“they”; “ils ont” = “they have”, “ils sont” = “they are”

“On” takes the same form as “il”: “on a”, “on est”. In speech, “nous avons” is almost always said “on a”.

In context

Examples from our dialogues

Lines taken from our dialogues. Listen to them, then open the full dialogue to hear them in a real situation.

Watch out

Mistakes you will often hear, and the right way to say it.

Je suis faim.J'ai faim.
Hunger, thirst, cold, fever and age are said with “avoir”: “j’ai faim”, “j’ai froid”, “j’ai de la fièvre”.
Vous avez prêt ?Vous êtes prêt ?
A state (ready, tired, happy, sick) is said with “être”, not “avoir”.

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