#<Usage of ’j’ai’ and ’je suis’>

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unreal patrolBOT
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<Usage of ’j’ai’ and ’je suis’>

undone bloom
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well je suis chaud means youre on fire

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j'ai chaud can only be about temperature so it's clear

light coyote
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"J'ai" is used to express possession, as well as to indicate age or expressions related to states such as hunger or thirst.

Example:
"J'ai 20 ans" (I'm 20 years old) In French, we use the verb "avoir" and not the verb "être".
"J'ai deux chats" (I have two cats)
"J'ai faim" (I'm hungry) Similarly, here it is the verb avoir and not être as in English.

"Je suis" is used to describe a state, profession, origin or personal characteristic.

Example:
"Je suis grande" (I'm tall)
"Je suis fatigué" (I’m tired)
"Je suis médecin" (I’m a doctor)
"Je suis français" (I’m French)

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@hoary snow

warm lance
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Je suis chaud can also have such a 🔞 connotation 🥲

fallow copper
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"Je suis chaud" could be any of "My literal body temperature is higher than normal" (but it would be very unlikely for someone to use it that way since "j'ai chaud" would be much clearer), "I'm excited" or "I'm horny" depending on context.

...Usually it's fairly obvious which of the latter two it is from context just like the word excité itself.

fallow copper
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As for the have/be vs avoir/être problem, the underlying issue is that something abstract like age or a state of being could be just as justifiably construed as part of one's identity (in which case be/être makes the most sense) or a property you possess like any physical object (in which case have/avoir makes the most sense) and the way it's most commonly formulated doesn't map 1:1 between English and French. In fact, you could say it both ways in either language.
EN: "I'm 20 years old" vs "I have lived for 20 years"
FR: "J'ai 20 ans" vs "Je suis agé de 20 ans"
All four are grammatically correct, but in both cases the first one is much more common and sounds more natural in their respective language than the other.

plain basin
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Essentially:
Avoir + noun
Être + adjective

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In "avoir chaud", chaud is the noun. Literally, it is "to have heat". So you feel hot on the inside. It's a body sensation.

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As for "être chaud", it's about feeling heat on the touch of a surface.

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They aren't quite the same thing.

stiff jasper
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we also dont say "I am 18 years" in English either. We say "I am 18 years old", there needs to be the adjective. French simply doesn't use this construction, and most languages that I'm aware of don't (especially romance languages)