The auxiliary verbs: 1. avoir.

Auxiliaries are functional verbs that are added to other verbs in order to form particular tenses.

1. Avoir
Avoir - to have - is a verb with two roles

Firstly it is a lexical verb in its own right, meaning "to have" or "to possess".
Example: Il a trois chats et un chien - he has three cats and a dog.
Secondly it is an auxiliary which combines with the past participle most French verbs to form certain
tenses.
Principal tenses formed using the auxiliary avoir:
The perfect or composite past (pass compos). Formed with the presenttense of avoir and a past
participle.
Example: J'ai mang - I've eaten
The pluperfect or past-perfect (pass antrieur). Formed with theimperfect tense of avoir and a
past participle.
Example: J'avais mang - I had eaten
The future-perfect (futur antrieur). Formed with the future tense of avoir and a past participle.
Example: J'aurai mang - I will have eaten
The past conditional (pass conditionnel). Formed with the conditional tense of avoir and a past
participle.
Example: J'aurais mang - I would have eaten

Verb tables: Avoir

Note: For each tense, a sample English equivalent is given for the first person singular. This represents
the most common translation of the tense in question, but not the only possibility.

Table 1.
Tenses (indicative) :
Future
(I will have)

Person

Present
(I have)

1st Singular.

j'ai

j'aurai

j'avais

2nd Singular

tu as

tu auras

tu avais

3rd Singular

il / elle / on ... a

il (..) aura

il (..) avait

1st plural
2nd plural
3rd plural

Notes

Table 2

nous avons
nous aurons
vous avez
vous aurez
ils / elles ont
ils auront
Used as an
auxiliary to form Used as an auxiliary to form the
the perfect
future-perfect (futur-antrieur
(pass compos)
tense)
tense

Imperfect
(I had / was having)

nous avions
vous aviez
ils avaient
Used as an auxiliary to form the
pluperfect or past perfect (pass
antrieur) tense

Tenses (indicative):
Person

Preterite
(I had)

Perfect (pass compos)

(I have had)

Pluperfect
(I'd had)

1st Singular.

j'eus

j'ai eu

j'avais eu

2nd Singular

tu eus

tu as eu

tu avais eu

3rd Singular

il (..) eut

il (..) a eu

il avait eu

1st plural

nous emes

nous avons eu

nous avions eu

2nd plural

vous etes

vous avez eu

vous aviez eu

3rd plural

ils eurent

ils ont eu

ils avaient eu

Notes

Alternative auxiliary to form the

pluperfect or past perfect
(pass antrieur) tense.
Not commonly used

Table 3
Person
1st Singular.
2nd Singular
3rd Singular
1st plural
2nd plural
3rd plural
Notes

Future perfect
(I will have had)
j'aurai eu
tu auras eu
il aura eu
nous aurons eu
vous aurez eu
ils auront eu

Tenses (indicative):
Conditional
(I would have)
j'aurais
tu aurais
il aurait
nous aurions
vous auriez
ils auraient

Past conditional
(I would have had)
j'aurais eu
tu aurais eu
il aurait eu
nous aurions eu
vous auriez eu
ils auraient eu

Table 4
Person
2nd Singular
1st plural
2nd plural
Notes

Imperative
(have)
aies
ayons
ayez

Present participle
ayant

Table 5
Person
1st Singular.

Present
(may have)
aie

Tenses (subjunctive) :
preterite
(might have)
eusse

Perfect (parfait)
(may have had)
aie eu

2nd Singular
3rd Singular
1st plural
2nd plural
3rd plural
Notes

aies
ait
ayons
ayez
aient

eusses
et
eussions
eussiez
eussent
(rare)

aies eu
ait eu
ayons eu
ayez eu
aient eu
(rare)

Further subjunctive cases - such as a pluperfect subjunctive - can theoretically be formed,

though to all intents and purposes these are never used in modern French.
Examples:
We have a beautiful black cat
- Nous avons un beau chat noir.
Tomorrow I'll have plenty of time.
Demain j'aurai beaucoup de temps.
The professor had several research assistants
Le professeur avait plusieurs assistants de recherche.
You've had enough time !.
Vous avez eu assez de temps.
You'll have had enough of it by tomorrow.
Vous en aurez eu assez d'ici demain..
It's possible that he may have flu.
Il est possible qu'il ait la grippe.
Have some respect, please.
Ayez du respect, s'il vous plat !.