Avoir besoin de = To need (French Expressions with avoir)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE
Last updated: 2023-12-04
39 questions

To express a need in French you can use "avoir besoin de" (Literally: to have need of [something]).

How to use 'avoir besoin de' in French

avoir besoin de [quelque chose] = to need [something]

J'ai besoin de repos.I need rest.

Nous avons besoin de nos parents.We need our parents.

Guillaume a besoin d'un crayon bleu.Guillaume needs a blue pencil.

To express to need + [noun], you will use :

avoir besoin de/d' + (article) + noun

avoir besoin de [infinitif] = to need [to do]

Elle a besoin de faire ses devoirs.She needs to do her homework.

Est-ce que tu as besoin de manger quelque chose ?Do you need to eat something?

Alain a besoin d'aller aux toilettes !Alain needs to go to the toilet!

To express to need + [verb], you will use the infinitive form of the verb, as such:

avoir besoin de/d' + infinitive
In both cases, de becomes d' in front of a vowel or mute h.
To know when to use avoir besoin de, see Devoir vs Avoir besoin de to express "to need to" in French 

 

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Examples and resources

Est-ce que tu as besoin de manger quelque chose ?Do you need to eat something?
Pas besoin de me remercier !No need to thank me!
Nous avons besoin de nos parents.We need our parents.
Alain a besoin d'aller aux toilettes !Alain needs to go to the toilet!

Examples - to need to

J'ai besoin de faire les courses.I need to go shopping.

to need

J'ai besoin de repos.I need rest.
Guillaume a besoin d'un crayon bleu.Guillaume needs a blue pencil.

to need to

Elle a besoin de faire ses devoirs.She needs to do her homework.
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