Expressing physical and mental states with 'avoir'
When you describe basic physical or mental states in English, you usually rely on the verb to be and an adjective. You tell people that you are hungry, cold, afraid, or right. If you try to translate these sentences word-for-word into French, you will quickly run into misunderstandings, because French approaches these personal states from a completely different angle.
Instead of using the verb être (to be), French relies on the verb avoir (to have) combined with a noun. Literally, a French speaker says that they "have hunger" or "have fear". Furthermore, these expressions use the noun by itself, meaning there is no article like un or le between the verb and the noun. Mastering this small group of expressions is a crucial step for any beginner.
The most common physical states are formed by pairing avoir directly with nouns such as faim (hunger), soif (thirst), chaud (heat), and froid (cold). Because they are fixed expressions, the noun never changes form, no matter who the subject is.
Beyond physical comfort, French uses the exact same structure for several common mental states and feelings. If you want to say you are afraid of the dark, ashamed of a mistake, or simply feel like eating a pastry, you will need avoir.
In addition, being right or wrong is treated as a state you possess. You use avoir raison (literally, to have reason) and avoir tort (to have wrong). You will also hear other similar expressions in everyday conversation, such as avoir sommeil (to be sleepy) or avoir de la chance (to be lucky), though the latter includes an article.
Because these expressions are built around the verb avoir, English speakers often assume they should use beaucoup (a lot) to intensify them. While that makes logical sense, it is usually incorrect for physical states.
For sensations like faim, soif, chaud, froid, and even peur, the noun behaves almost like an adjective. To say you are very hungry or very cold, you must use très (very). If you say j'ai beaucoup faim, it will immediately sound unnatural to a native ear.
However, keep in mind that très is not universal for all avoir expressions. If you want to say you really feel like doing something, you would use beaucoup with avoir envie. And opinions like avoir raison or avoir tort usually require different adverbs altogether, such as complètement (completely).
To express common physical and mental states like hunger, cold, and fear, French uses the verb avoir (to have) followed directly by a noun. Instead of saying you are a certain way, remember to say that you have that feeling, and use très to intensify physical sensations.