Avoir Besoin De

In this lesson you will learn how to say to need in French. To say to need you must use the following grammatical construction: “avoir besoin de”. This literally means “to have the need of”. In order to make a proper sentence you must also conjugate the verb avoir.

In this video I will teach you how to say, “My cat needs a name”. I have had my little kitty for about eight months now and she still doesn’t have a name! To say this in French you say:

• Ma chatte a besoin d’un nom.
  My cat needs a name; or
• Elle a besoin d’un nom.
  She needs a name.

My cat is female and the word for a girl cat is une chatte. Because I am saying, “my cat” I must say “ma chatte”. If he were a male I would say “mon chat” in the masculine form. The next thing I do is conjugate avoir in the third person, singular (a).

After the word besoin comes the word “de” which means “of”. The word for name in French is “nom”. I write “d'” un because begins with a vowel and it would be incorrect to write “de un” in French. Please watch the movie below and let me know if you have any questions.

Example sentences

• J’ai besoin d’un café.
  I need a coffee.
• Tu as besoin d’aller aux toilettes.
  You need to go to the bathroom.
• Nous avons besoin d’étudier le Français.
  We need to study French.
• Les enfants ont besoin d’aller à l’école.
  The children need to go to school.
• Le professeur a besoin d’être sympatique.
  The teacher needs to be nice.
• Le chien a besoin de manger.
  The dog needs to eat.
• Tu as besoin de lire le journal.
  You need to read the newspaper.
• Elle a besoin de rentrer chez elle.
  She needs to go home.
• Nous avons besoin de cuisiner la viande.
  We need to cook the meat.
• The man needs to walk faster.
  L’homme a besoin de marcher plus vite.
• Vous avez besoin de parler plus lent.
  You (plural) need to speak slower.
• Nous avons besoin d’apprendre des langues étrangères
  We need to learn foreign languages.

Related lessons:

• avoir envie de
• Vouloir meaning, usage
• Il faut meaning, usage

Discover more:

• Avoir besoin de – WordReference
• Besoin – Collins Dictionary
• Besoin – Larousse Dictionary

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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