Sunday, January 5, 2020
Dont Make This Mistake in French Je Suis 25 Ans
If you are 25 years old and someone asks you in French how old you are, you respond: Jai 25 ans (I am 25 years old). Using the verb avoir (to have) for age is the idiom, and to respond using the verb à ªtre (Je suis 25 ans) is nonsense to the French ear.  The French translation of to be is à ªtre. However, a lot of English expressions with to be are equivalent to French expressions with avoir (to have). To be ___ (years old) is one of these expressions: I am 25 (years old) is not Je suis 25 or Je suis 25 ans, but rather Jai 25 ans. This is just something you have to memorize, along with Jai chaud (Im hot), Jai faim (Im hungry), and many more expressions with avoir. Note also that the word ans (years) is required in French. In English you can just say Im 25,but that does not happen in French. Plus, the number is always written as a numeral, never as a word. Other Expressions of Age à trois ans  at three (years of age)On fà ªte ses vingt ans. Were celebrating his twentieth birthday.un enfant de cinq ans  a five-year-old childretraite à 60 retirement at the age of 60moins de 26 ans younger than 26Anne Jones, 12 ans Anne Jones, age 12les enfants de 3 à 13 ans children ages 3 to 13Le groupe tà ©moin a comportà © 30 sujets, à ¢ge moyen de 56,9 ans.  The control group consisted of 30 healthy individuals, mean age 56.9.à ¢gà © de plus de 18 ans older than 18 / 18 years of ageJai une excellente bouteille dOban 18 ans dà ¢ge dans mon bureau.  I have an excellent bottle of 18-year-old Oban in my office.La principale à ©tude comprenait environ 19,000 femmes à ¢gà ©es de 15 à 25 ans.  The main study involved almost 19,000 women from 15 to 25. More Idiomatic Expressions with Avoir avoir à   infinitive  to have to do somethingavoir besoin de  to needavoir chaud  to be hotavoir confiance en  to trustavoir de la chance  to be luckyavoir du charme  to have charmavoir du chien (informal)  to be attractive, have a certain somethingavoir du pain sur la planche (informal)  to have a lot to do, have a lot on ones plateavoir du pot (informal)  to be luckyavoir envie de  to want toavoir faim  to be hungryavoir froid  to be coldavoir honte de  to be ashamed of/aboutavoir horreur de  to detest/loatheavoir lair (de)  to look (like)avoir la frite  to feel greatavoir la gueule de bois  to have a hangover, to be hungoveravoir la patate  to feel greatavoir le beurre et largent du beurre  to have ones cake and eat it tooavoir le cafard (informal)  to feel low/blue/down in the dumpsavoir lesprit de lescalier  to be unable to think of witty comebacks in timeavoir le fou rire  to have the gigglesavoir le mal de mer  to be seasickavoir les chevilles qui enflent (informal)  to be full of oneselfavoir lhabitude de  to be used to, in the habit ofavoir lheure  to have (know) the timeavoir lieu  to take placeavoir lintention de  to intend/plan toavoir mal à la tà ªte, aux yeux, à lestomac  to have a headache, eye pain, stomachacheavoir mal au cÅ“ur  to be sick to ones stomachavoir peur de  to be afraidavoir raison  to be rightavoir soif  to be thirstyavoir sommeil  to be sleepyavoir tort  to be wrong Additional Resources Avoir, Être, FaireExpressions with avoirExpressions with à ªtre
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