French grammar - Idiomatic expressions with avoir..de

Idiomatic expressions with avoir..de

There are several very common idiomatic expressions that use the verb avoir, the preposition de and an infinitive.

• avoir l'air de means 'to seem to'

• avoir peur de means 'to fear to'

• avoir envie de means 'to feel like (doing)'

• avoir besoin de means 'to have the need to'

• avoir honte de means 'to be ashamed to'

• avoir tort de means 'to be wrong to'

• avoir raison de means 'to be right to'

Many of these expressions can also take a noun.

Examples:
	Tu as l'air d'être pressé. You (familiar) seem to be in a hurry. With a verb
	Il a l'air d'un flic. He looks like a cop. With a noun
	Ça a l'air difficile ! It looks difficult! After dropping the de this can taike an adjective too
	Tu as l'air super fatigué. You (familiar) look super tired. After dropping the de this can taike an adjective too
	J'ai peur de tomber. I'm afraid of falling. With a verb
	Elles ont peur des araignées. They are afraid of spiders. With a noun
	Avez-vous peur du noir ? Are you (formal) afraid of the dark? With a noun le noir means 'the dark'
	J'ai vraiment envie d'aller aux toilettes ! I really want to go to the toilet! With a verb
	Nous avons envie de rester à la maison toute la journée. We want to stay home all day. With a verb
	J'ai envie du chocolat que tu as acheté pour nous hier. I crave the chocolate you (familiar) bought for us yesterday. With a noun
	N'avez-vous pas envie d'aller au cinéma ? Don't you (formal) feel like going to the cinema? With a verb
	Je n'ai nullement envie de lui parler. By no means do I want to talk to him. With a verb
	J'ai besoin de repos. I need some rest. With a noun
	Avez-vous besoin d'aide ? Do you (formal) need help? With a noun
	Il n'a pas besoin de signer le document. He does not need to sign the document. With a verb
	Vous avez honte de continuer à fumer, n'est-ce pas ? You (formal) are ashamed to keep smoking, aren't you? With a verb
	N'as-tu pas honte de tes étranges habitudes ? Aren't you (familiar) ashamed of your strange habits? With a noun
	Leurs parents ont honte d'eux. Their parents are ashamed of them. With a noun
	Tu as tort de lui dire ça. You (familiar) are wrong to tell him that. With a verb
	Vous avez tort de vous sentir bouleversé. You (formal) are wrong to feel upset. With a verb
	Ils ont eu tort de se comporter ainsi. They were wrong to behave like this. With a verb se comporter (verb) means 'to behave' ainsi means 'in this way' or 'in that way'
	Tu as eu raison de lui dire la vérité. You (familiar) were right to tell him the truth. With a verb
	Nous avons raison de nous plaindre. We are right to complain. With a verb se plaindre (verb) means 'to complain'
	Tu as tort et j'ai raison. Bien sûr. You (familiar) are wrong and I am right. Of course. :)