Non, je n'ai pas soif
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The verb avoir (to have) is used to express hunger and thirst (and not être - to be - as in English).
In French, we literally say I have hunger / I have thirst.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Q&A Forum 14 questions, 36 answers
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Tom Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
This is not quite the whole picture. While it is true that the 'm' in 'faim' is not sounded as a classic 'm', it does have a determining effect on the pronunciation of the word.
Consider the following words: 'fait' & 'faim'. The 't' in 'fait' is truly silent and the word is pronounced¿[fɛ] If the 'm' in 'faim' were truly silent then both words would sound identical. In fact the 'm' in 'faim' causes a nasalisation of the sound and thus 'faim' is pronounced [fɛ̃].
Hope this helps.
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Tom, thanks for pointing this out. I interpret "silent" to mean that the letter in question is not sounded. In this sense the "m" in "faim" is silent. That it still influences the pronounciation of the word as a whole is, of course, true.
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RyanKwiziq community member
How do you say “Are you thirsty” and “Are you hungry” Formaly?
Asked 1 year ago
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DanielKwiziq community member
INDEED A VERY INTERESTING LANGUAGE but why do we use avoir instead of etre
Asked 1 year ago
Bonjour Daniel !
In French, the expression is literally "to have hunger / to have thirst", hence the use of "avoir" instead of "être" :)
Bonne journée !
JeremiahKwiziq community member
Sorry, i don't mean to bother. but when do we use J'ai and Je suis, since they both say "i am"
RichardKwiziq community member
J'ai is from avoir and means "I have"
Je suis is from être and means "I am"
Of course, being French, there are excpetions to this... : )
Daniel asked:View original
INDEED A VERY INTERESTING LANGUAGE but why do we use avoir instead of etre
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BrendaKwiziq community member
Vous avez faim maintenant?
Non, Je n'ai faim pas j'ai soi
Asked 1 year ago
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Brenda,
Non, je n'ai pas faim, j'ai soif.
Did you have a specific question?
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
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Hi Bay,
Indeed in French we use 'avoir' for thirst and hunger and also for ages.
e.g.
Ils ont vingt ans, cette année.
(They are twenty this year.)
Le chat a soif.
(The cat is thirsty)
Nous avons faim, quand est-ce qu'on mange?
( We are hungry when are we eating?)
Hope this helps!
BayKwiziq community member
Never mind, i just saw the answer in the notes. In French they use "to have" to express hunger but not "to be".
GruffKwiziq team member
Hi Bay - the easiest way to 'get' this is that 'faim' actually means 'hunger' not 'hungry', so in French we say, in effect, "I have hunger". It's the same for thirst. Hope that helps!
GraceliaKwiziq community member
Yes. Because faim and soif are feminine nouns, so it may be more suitable to use avoir, instead of etre, that should be followed by an adjective to describe the subject
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CrystalMaidenKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
" You took this Kwiz quite recently...soon! " When can I take Kwizs again?
How long does someone have to wait before they're arbitrarily allowed to take a Kwiz again? Also, I'm confused about how none of my questions in this site period seem to get answered, or maybe they are answered and I just don't get the answer sent to me or something.
Asked 1 year ago
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi CrystalMaiden,
are you a paying subscriver to kwiziq? If so, you should be able to take unlimited quizzes. A free subscriber is limited to 10 quizzes a month, I believe.
-- Chris.
CrystalMaidenKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
2 weeks, okay, I guess I'll write that down. No reason they can't say that in the message, like, " You should be able to take it again in 2 weeks, " instead of the vague, " soon. "
GruffKwiziq team member
Hi CrystalMaiden - we're working a new version of the micro kwizzes that will immediately retakeable. They were not initially intended to be part of the user learning workflow but students really like them and the ability to focus on just one thing at a time, so we are going to improve them to make this possible.
In the meantime, I can suggest a workaround which is to use one or more Kwiziq notebooks to manage the topics you want to focus on. It does involve a few extra clicks but it's still quite fast to do. So, instead of taking the kwiz on the lesson page itself, click the add to notebook button (as a premium subscriber you can have as many notebooks as you like). Then go to that notebook and click test your knowledge to kwiz against that. You can keep them focussed to one or a few topics at a time - whether those suggested by kwizbot or anything you select from the whole library. Each kwiz will serve one question per topic, but they are repeatable and you'll go through the topics completely this way. KwizBot will also be smart about which questions he serves each time.
Regarding getting answers, I know people are answering your questions, so it may be that you're not seeing the email alerts. I'd check your spam folder as they can sometimes be mistaken for spam.
CrystalMaiden asked:View original
" You took this Kwiz quite recently...soon! " When can I take Kwizs again?
How long does someone have to wait before they're arbitrarily allowed to take a Kwiz again? Also, I'm confused about how none of my questions in this site period seem to get answered, or maybe they are answered and I just don't get the answer sent to me or something.
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AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Sukanya !
That's a trickier question than it looks :)
Indeed, in French when you say "Je suis excité(e)", it immediately takes a sexual connotation.
And you would NOT use it like that: "Je suis excité(e) de ..."
You could however use the following expressions:
"Je suis excité(e) à l'idée de "
or "Je suis impatient(e) [à l'idée] de "
If you have a specific sentence in mind, please let me know, and I'll give you the best equivalent possible ;)
À bientôt !
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JoannaKwiziq community member
Est-ce qu'on dit j'ai beaucoup de faim ou j'ai très faim? (I'm very hungry)
J'ai lu
Asked 3 years ago
Joanna asked:View original
Est-ce qu'on dit j'ai beaucoup de faim ou j'ai très faim? (I'm very hungry)
J'ai lu
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AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Sophia !
When using the negation ne ... pas, you need to remember the two words are going on each side of the conjugated verb, as such:
J'ai faim, je ne mange pas.
Have a look at the related lesson: https://french.kwiziq.com/my-languages/french/view/601
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
MichaelKwiziq community member
Shouldn't there be a conjunction like 'mais' between the two clauses: j'ai faim, mais je ne mange pas'?
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AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Elena !
Bravo, most of your sentences are correct: you definitely nailed j'ai faim and j'ai soif ;)
However, you would say je bois de l'eau, and not je bois d'eau, as here you need the partitive article to express "some".
Please have a look at the related lesson for more explanation:
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/du-de-la-de-l-are-used-to-express-some-or-any-partitive-articles
À bientôt !
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LauraKwiziq team member
Très bien - juste une petite correction : "Et toi ?"
Moi, j'ai déjà mangé un croissant pour le petit-déjeuner. Bonne journée !
LeahKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Merci, Laura! J'aime des croissants, aussi. Je parle francais un peu.
AmandaKwiziq community member
Hope this helps, Leah!
https://french.stackexchange.com/questions/11549/difference-between-tu-and-toi
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