Non, je n'ai pas soif
Look at these examples:
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, 33 answers
Don't have an account yet? Join today
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.
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.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Bonjour Daniel !
In French, the expression is literally "to have hunger / to have thirst", hence the use of "avoir" instead of "être" :)
Bonne journée !
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
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Hi Brenda,
Non, je n'ai pas faim, j'ai soif.
Did you have a specific question?
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Don't have an account yet? Join today
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!
Never mind, i just saw the answer in the notes. In French they use "to have" to express hunger but not "to be".
GruffKwiziq language super star
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!
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
Don't have an account yet? Join today
" 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
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.
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 language super star
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.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
AurélieKwiziq language super star
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 !
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Est-ce qu'on dit j'ai beaucoup de faim ou j'ai très faim? (I'm very hungry)
J'ai lu
Asked 2 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
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Don't have an account yet? Join today
AurélieKwiziq language super star
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 !
Shouldn't there be a conjunction like 'mais' between the two clauses: j'ai faim, mais je ne mange pas'?
Don't have an account yet? Join today
AurélieKwiziq language super star
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 !
Don't have an account yet? Join today
LauraKwiziq language super star
Très bien - juste une petite correction : "Et toi ?"
Moi, j'ai déjà mangé un croissant pour le petit-déjeuner. Bonne journée !
Hope this helps, Leah!
https://french.stackexchange.com/questions/11549/difference-between-tu-and-toi
Don't have an account yet? Join today
