LESSON XVI

Common expressions with avoir. — Avoir in expressions describing parts of the body. — Irregular verbs mourir, battre, se battre, vouloir

61. Common expressions with avoir. — Avoir forms a number of everyday expressions which generally require the verb to be in English. The following are among the more common of this class :

avoir besoin de, to (be in) need (of) avoir raison, to be right

avoir chaud, to be warm avoir soif, to be thirsty

avoir faim, to be hungry avoir sommeil, to be sleepy

avoir froid, to be cold avoir tort, to be wrong

avoir honte, to be ashamed avoir beau, to be useless, in vain *

1 Avoir beau is followed by the infinitive. Originally, the adjective beau in this expression was used with an ironical shade of meaning somewhat similar to that in our own use of fine in some English expressions. In the sentence, She has a fine time correcting him, it is apparent that the adjective is here synonymous with useless, unsuccessful, etc., and that the sentence could easily be put in the form of It is useless for her to correct him without impairing the meaning. The French for this sentence is : Elle a beau le corriger.

avoir peur, to be afraid avoir lieu, to take place

avoir la bonté de, to have the kindness, please

Nous aurons chaud demain. We shall le warm to-morrow.

J'ai peur de Jean. / am afraid of John.

Ayez la bonté de venir avec moi. Phase come with me.

Cela aura lieu demain. That will take place to-morrow.

Observe :

Qu'avez-vous aujourd'hui? What is the matter with you?

Qu'y a-t-il or Qu'est-ce qu'il y a? What is the matter?

62. Avoir in expressions describing parts of the body. — Avoir is used in expressions describing parts of the body, where in English we generally employ the verb to be. Furthermore, it should be carefully observed that in English a possessive adjective is used in these cases in conjunction with the noun subject; in. French, this possessive is replaced by the definite article and the personal pronoun subject.

Il a les cheveux noirs. His hair is black. ( He has black hair.)

Elle a les yeux bleus. Her eyes are blue. (She has blue eyes.)

J'ai les bras longs (or de longs My arms are long. bras).

Note. This same principle is used with the combinations avoir mal, to ache; avoir chaud, to be hot; avoir froid, to be cold when these refer to parts of the body.

J'ai mal à la tête.1 My head aches. (I have a headache.)

Il a froid aux mains. His hands are cold. ( He has cold

hands.) J'avais chaud au pied. My foot was warm. (I had a warm

foot.) Elle a toujours mal aux yeux. Her eyes are always sore. (Her eyes

always ache.)

1 This may also be expressed : J'ai un mal de tête (un mal d'estomac, un mal de dents, etc.) for some special parts of the body. The construction given above, however, is general and can be used in every possible case.

63. Irregular verbs. — Study the irregular verbs mourir, to die; battre, to beat; se battre, to fight; vouloir, to wish, want, will.1

EXERCISE

(a) i. When we are too warm we go to the garden where it is always shady. 2. I want to go with you when you leave. 3. His hair was curly when he was young. 4. My cat fought with a strange dog last night. 5. You have made so much noise that my ears ache. 6. It is useless for her to call John. He doesn't hear her. 7. I should like to spend the month of August in the country, but I haven't enough money. 8. How much did he want to pay for the horse ? 9. I am always hungry before going to bed. 10. I ought to wear gloves because my hands are always cold.

(b) 11. The weather was so warm that it soon rained. 12. She needed all the children in her games. 13. How old was your sister when she died? 14. What was the matter with John this morning? 15. The boys were righting in the schoolyard. 16. You certainly would like him if you knew him well. 17. I am always sleepy when the weather is warm. 18. What time was it when the old lady died? 19. John ate so many apples that his stomach ached. 20. Her son was so dirty that she was ashamed of him.

(c) 21. His father will beat him when he returns home tonight. 22. Will you take a ride in my father's automobile? 23. -Last winter I was cold nearly all the time. 24. The baseball game will take place to-morrow afternoon. 25. John fell from the tree and broke his arm. 26. When she had the tooth-

1 The expression vouloir bien expresses greater courtesy than does vouloir, i" should like is generally the conditional of vouloir bien, je voudrais bien. (Do not confuse the like included in vouloir with the like in aimer, to like, love.)

Notice that veuillez bien, have the kindness to, be so good as, please, kindly, generally serves as second plural imperative.

ache she suffered very much. 27. Our soldiers fought well during the World War. 28. I should like to see you this afternoon. 29. The old man was dying when his son's letter arrived. 30. Mary didn't want to get up this morning. She was very sleepy.

(d) 31. The boy was beating the dog with a stick. 32. She is afraid when she is all alone in the house. 33. I should have been thirsty if I had not drunk several glasses of water. 34. What was the matter this morning? I saw a crowd of children in the street. 35. He was so warm that his mother made him come in. 36. My father wanted to buy a house, but they were all too dear. 37. His hair was so long that he had it cut yesterday. 38. John was right, but he didn't know it. 39. When her feet are cold she wraps them in a blanket. 40. What would you have done if she had died?