il a
The French phrase for "he has" is il a.
The phrase il a is used to indicate that a male person possesses or owns something.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the subject pronoun il (he) and the third-person singular conjugation of the verb avoir (to have), which is a.
Which one should you use?
While il a means "he has", you must use elle a to say "she has".
Did you know?
- In French, il a is used to express age, whereas English uses the verb 'to be'. To say 'he is ten years old', a French speaker says il a dix ans, which literally translates to 'he has ten years'.
- The word a is a descendant of the Latin word 'habet'. This means that every time a French speaker says il a, they are using a word that shares a root with the English word 'habit'.
- The pronoun il can be used as an impersonal subject, similar to the English 'it'. In the phrase il a plu, it does not mean 'he has rained' but 'it has rained'.
Examples in context
- Il a du vin.He has wine.Tatoeba #4694614 by sacredceltic, translation #1764488 by CK
- Il a du cran.He has guts.Tatoeba #3114965 by Blabla, translation #327952 by CK
- Il a un fils.He has a son.Tatoeba #3482993 by Lulantis, translation #2870268 by Amastan
- Il a une grande maison.He has a big house.
- Il possède une entreprise prospère.He owns a successful business.
- Il a une belle voix.He has a beautiful voice.
- Il possède deux chiens.He has two dogs.
- Il a une voiture à lui.He has a car of his own.
- Il a un chat.He has a cat.
- Son père a une grande maison.His father has a big house.
- 829 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Manon are talking about their brother.
- LucasIl a un nouveau vélo.He has a new bike.
- ManonC'est super ! De quelle couleur est-il ?That's great! What color is it?
- LucasIl a un vélo bleu.He has a blue bike.
- ManonIl a beaucoup de chance.He is very lucky.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries a, il, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
