# French/Lessons/Family

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Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts
    Elle est la sœur de Michel.
    Nous avons trois frères.
and possibly understand:
    Combien de personnes y a-t-il à votre bureau ?
    Il est le cousin de ma grandmère.

## Dialogue · Avoir-to have

Jean and Chantal are discussing what types of pen they have.
Jean - J'ai un stylo rouge.
Chantal - Moi, j'ai un stylo bleu. Et toi, tu as un stylo rouge.
Jean - Aussi, j'ai un stylo jaune.
Of course, you can use avoir for anything you have!
Chantal - J'ai deux frères et trois sœurs, et toi ?
Jean - J'ai un frère et une tante.
Chantal - J'ai deux tantes et un oncle.
Avoir is also used to describe age
Jean - J'ai quatre ans. Et toi ?
Chantal - J'ai trois ans.

## Grammar · To have · Avoir

Avoir, meaning to have, is conjugated irregularly.

### Formation

| avoir /a.vwaʁ/ (ah-vwahr) | to have |
| j'ai /e/ (ay) | I have |
| tu as /a/ (ah) | you have |
| il a /a/ (ah) | he has |
| nous avons /a.vɔ̃/ (ah-voh$^{(n)}$) | we have |
| vous avez /a.ve/ (ah-vay) | you have |
| ils ont /ɔ̃/ (oh$^{(n)}$) | they have |
| eu /y/ | had |
Remember to liaison between "nous avons", "vous avez", and "ils ont/elles ont".

### Expressing age

Avoir is used to express age.

### Interrogatives

The above uses avoir affirmatively. You can also use it interrogatively. A small complication arises, in that without some help, the result does not sound very good. The use of an euphonic (pleasing to the ear) is used with vowels before the pronoun. Thus, the letter -t- is placed between the verb and the pronoun:
Ai-je ? (Have I ?) As-tu ? (Have you ?) informal (hast thou) A-t-il ? (Has he ?) A-t-elle ? (Has she ?) Avons nous ? (Have we ?) Avez vous ? (Have you ?) formal Ont ils ? (Have they ?) masculine Ont elles ? (Have they ?) feminine
The use of liaison fulfils the euphonic for "ont".
Examples:
A-t-il la farine ? Oui, Monsieur, il a la farine. Avons nous la viande ? Oui, Monsieur, nous avons la viande et le pain. Avez vous la table ? Oui, Madame, j'ai la table.

## Grammar · Possession and association

The preposition de /də/ (duh) is used to express possession or association:
    le frère de Michel$^{thebrotherofMichel}$
De can also be translated as 's:
    le frère de Michel$^{Michel'sbrother}$
    les Œuvres de Fermat$^{Fermat’sWorks}$
Recall that du /dy/ replaces de le, and des /dɛ/ replaces de les.

### Examples
## Supplementary grammar · Possessive adjectives · Les adjectifs possessifs
### Usage

Possessive adjective are used to express possession of an object.
    C'est mon livre.$^{It'smybook.}$
In English the possessive adjective agrees with the subject (his sister, her brother). But in French, possessive adjectives act like all other adjectives: they must agree with the noun they modify.
Whether son, sa and ses translate to his or her is indicated by context:
    Oui, elle a son livre.$^{Yes,shehasherbook.}$
Notre, votre, and leur modify singular nouns, regardless of gender; nos, vos, and leurs modify plural nouns:
    l'appartement (m) : C'est notre appartement.$^{It'sourapartment.}$
    la maison: C'est notre maison.$^{It'sourhouse.}$

### Liaison and adjective changes

Liaison occurs when mon, ton, and son are followed by a vowel.
Liaison also occurs with all plural forms, since they all end in s.
Mon, ton, and son are used before a feminine singular noun that starts with a vowel or silent h:
    [[wikt:Elle est mon$_n$amie.|Elle est mon$_n$amie.]]$^{Sheismyfriend.}$

### Examples
## Supplementary grammar · Questions

Recall that the expression il y a /i.lja/ means there is … or there are …:
    Il y a un problème.$^{Thereisaproblem.}$
    Il y a des livres.$^{Therearebooks.}$
The interrogative form of il y a is y a-t-il /i aˈt̪il/. That is, il y a is inverted to y a-t-il, meaning is there? or are there?, within questions:
    Y a-t-il un problème ?$^{Isthereaproblem?}$
    Y a-t-il des magasins près d'ici ?$^{Arethereshopsnearhere?}$
Both How much … and How many … are translated as Combien de … .
If the person or thing it refers to is countable, combien de is always followed by a plural noun:
    Combien de personnes y a-t-il à votre bureau ?$^{Howmanypeoplearethereinyouroffice?}$
    Vous avez combien de frères ?$^{Youhavehowmanybrothers?}$
However, with uncountable nouns, such as l'eau$^{water}$ /o/ and l'argent$^{money}$ /aʁ.ʒɑ̃/, the singular form is used:
    Vous avez combien d’argent ?$^{Youhavehowmuchmoney?}$
As with il y a, other nouns and verbs can be inverted within questions. For example, vous avez …$^{youhave…}$ can become … avez-vous ?$^{…doyouhave?}$ :
    Combien de frères avez-vous ?$^{Howmanybrothersdoyouhave?}$
    Combien avez-vous d’argent ?$^{Howmuchmoneydoyouhave?}$

### Examples
## Supplementary vocabulary · Extended family · La famille éloignée

To speak about complex family relations, you use de mon, de ma, and de mes:
    le cousin de ma grandmère$^{mygrandmother'scousin}$ .

### Examples
## Exercises

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate from French to English.
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate from English to French.
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Fill in each blank with the correct form of avoir.

## Supplementary exercises

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate from French to English.
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate from English to French.
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) State each word described.
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
    Fill in each blank with son, sa, or ses.
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