avoir

Meaning

Noun

asset, possession

Verb

1. to have (to own; to possess)
2. to have (auxiliary verb to form compound past tenses of most verbs)
3. to have (a condition)
4. to have (a measure or age)
5. to have (to trick)
6. to have (to participate in an experience)
7. to have (to), must

Pronounced as (IPA)

/a.vwaʁ/

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 *habēn, Frankish *hebōn (“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).

Sentences

Quels copains va-t-il avoir ?

What buddies will he have?

Après avoir gagné le succès , Timothy devient ministre ordonné .

After gaining success, Timothy becomes an ordained minister.

Après avoir travaillé en Belgique , il revient au Canada .

After working in Belgium, he returned to Canada.

Nous devons avoir une politique d’ensemble.

We need to have an overall policy.

Je ne savais pas qu’on pouvait avoir aussi mal .

I didn't know it could hurt so much.

Au Grand Prix de Hongrie il abandonne après avoir violemment tapé le mur .

At the Hungarian Grand Prix he gave up after violently hitting the wall.

La compensation ne doit pas obligatoirement avoir lieu sur le territoire touché .

Compensation does not have to take place in the affected territory.

Bourreau de travail , il ne souhaitait pas avoir d'enfant.

A workaholic, he did not want to have children.