Avoir

Hello,

I have read that 'avoir' is used in a number of idiomatic expressions, many of which are translated by the English verb 'to be'. Eg., J'ai 30 ans. J'ai soif. J'ai froid and Il ya.

Is it also possible to say Je suis 30, je suis soif and je suis froid?

Thanks

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on October 16, 2011 at 4:15pm

*Je suis 30 and *Je suis soif are basically impossible. (I guess you could just about invent some convoluted context where the first might mean "I am number 30", but it certainly doesn't mean "I'm 30 years old". The second one would be grammatically correct if you said "Je suis la soif", but it would mean "I am thirst", not "I am thirsty".)

"Je suis froid" is correct, but it means "I am cold" in the sense of "I am emotionally cold/sexually frigid". To say "I am cold" in the sense of "I feel cold", "I am experiencing a physically low temperature", then it's "J'ai froid".