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How to Say ‘I have five years of experience.’ in French

J'ai cinq ans d'expérience.

zhay ay sank ahn dee ex-pay-ree-ahns

[zhay ay sank ahn dee ex-pay-ree-ahns]

💬 Usage Tip: The pattern J'ai X ans de ... counts time spent at something. de shortens to d' before a vowel.

Phrase Breakdown

J'ai cinq ans

zhay ay sank ahn

I have five years

Use 'avoir' plus a number of years. Link the words: 'zhay san-kahn'.

Example

J'ai deux ans de pratique.

I have two years of practice.

Words in this phrase

J'

[zhay]

I

Pronoun used by the speaker to refer to himself or herself.

Example

J'aime les bonbons.

I like candies.

ai

[ay]

have

Form of 'avoir' used with past participles to make the past tense.

Example

J'ai beaucoup appris grâce à notre discussion.

I learned a lot thanks to our discussion.

cinq

[sank]

five

The number 5.

Example

J'ai cinq montres.

I have five watches.

ans

[ahn]

years

A plural time noun used to talk about duration.

Example

Trois ans d'expérience sont demandés pour ce poste.

Three years of experience are required for this position.

d'expérience.

dee ex-pay-ree-ahns

of experience.

'De' becomes 'd'' before a vowel: 'dex-pay-ryahns'.

Example

Il a beaucoup d'expérience.

He has a lot of experience.

Words in this phrase

d'

[dee]

of

Used to indicate possession or connection.

Example

Le livre d'un ami.

The book of a friend.

expérience

[ex-pay-ree-ahns]

experience

Professional or personal experience gained over time.

Example

Mon expérience en gestion de projet est un atout.

My experience in project management is an asset.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.

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