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wanting to lose weight

Carol W.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

wanting to lose weight

i used avoir envie as it is a wish, a desire. question not say it was a medical necessity which would be avoir besoin de;

that was my understanding of difference between the two, is that not right?

This question relates to:French lesson "Avoir besoin de = To need (French Expressions with avoir)"
Asked 3 years ago
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CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Carol, 

The example about losing weight in the Kwiz is  -

Cette année Michael ___ perdre du poids ( This year, Michael needs to lose weight)

So it is clearly 'a besoin de', you cannot rewrite the text as this is not a free speech exercise.

Hope this helps!

Like13 years ago
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Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Carol,

I believe that "avoir envie de" is less strong than "avoir besoin de" in the sense that "envie" takes the meaning of "fancy doing something" whereas "besoin" suggests a "need" so I'm inclined to agree with your analysis of the two expressions.

Hope this helps,

Jim

Like03 years ago
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Guneet M.A2Kwiziq community member

Why can't we use "doit" here? I would imagine devoir also works well in this case as he has to do something.

Like42 years ago
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Carol W. asked:

wanting to lose weight

i used avoir envie as it is a wish, a desire. question not say it was a medical necessity which would be avoir besoin de;

that was my understanding of difference between the two, is that not right?

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