Leçon IV

After «être» to be, the next most versatile verb would have to be:

«avoir» - to have

Avoir is practically ubiquitous, it's used to express shitloads of needs, conditions, expressions etc you get the picture.

The conjugation works as follows:

avoir - to have

ai	avons
as	avez
a	ont

But, the law of contraction (what the...) applies mercilessly in the French language. Therefore in conjuction with the subject pronouns, you have:

*je + ai = j'ai

j'ai *	nous avons
tu as	vous avez
il/elle/on a	ils ont

And, the liaison applies itself here. You are to say as if these were one continuous word,
nous avons = nuzavoñ
vous avez = vuzave
ils ons = ilzoñ

ñ denotes French nasal sound.

+++

Horightyho, expressions with avoir:

J'ai 25 ans (j'ai vingt cinque ans) = I am 25 years old
J'ai faim = I'm hungry  (lit. I have hunger)
J'ai soif = I'm thirsty    (lit. I have thirst)
J'ai sommeil = I'm sleepy   (lit. I have sleepiness)
J'ai froid = I'm cold, I feel cold    (lit. I have cold)
J'ai chaud = I'm hot    (lit. I have hot)

J'ai une famille = I have a family
J'ai une relation d'amour avec elle, ne dit pas a personne  = I have a love affair with her, don't tell anyone.
J'ai quatre frères et sept soeurs = I have four brothers and seven sisters
Nous avons deux chiens et une chatte = we have two dogs and a (female) cat
Ils sont beacoup d'argent = they have heaps of dosh
Tu as une femme? = have you a wife?
Il a une petite amie? = Has he a girlfriend?
Vous avez une belle grande maison. = you have a beautiful massive house.