The Focus of This Lesson Is Expressing an Opinion of a Visual Element.
Elle avait l'air plus grande que ca...
"It looked taller than that."

There are many expressions to express a subjective opinion based on visual information. Avoir l'air is one of these. The other examples in this lesson for subjective analysis are fait + [adjective/noun], parait + [adjective], me faire penser à + [noun], and on dirait + [noun]. These are roughly the English equivalent of "it seems" or "it looks." Me faire penser à + [noun] translates literally to "makes me think of."

The Grammatical Usage of Avoir L'Air

avoir l'air + [adjective]

avoir l'air de + [noun, verb]

Avoir l'air contains the verb avoir, which means you can conjugate this expression to all tenses, including the past, future, and conditional: tu as l'air..., il aura l'air..., ça avait l'air..., j'aurais l'air..."

For Example:

1. Le restaurant a l'air fermé.
   "The restaurant looks closed."
2. La lumière a l'air d'être éteinte.
   "The light looks like it's off."

Examples From This Dialogue

1. Elle avait l'air plus grande que ca.
   "It looked taller than that."
2. Mais avec vos lunettes de soleil vous avez l'air d'un criminel.
   "But with your sunglasses you look like a criminal."

Sample Sentences

1. Il a l'air fatigué aujourd'hui!
   "He looks tired today!"
2. Il avait l'air de vouloir partir.
   "He looked like he wanted to leave."

Language Tip

In grammatical usage, avoir l'air is the most versatile of the expressions presented in this lesson, but it is also the most flexible in tone, and we can use it in almost any situation translating to"it looks," regardless of whether it is formal. On the other hand, the other terms we discussed can be a little more specific. Parait is a little bit more stiff and formal than avoir l'air. On dirait is similar in that sense to parait and can have a bit of a dramatic effect. Faire + [adjective/noun] is a very difficult expression to use, in that depending on the word following it, it will not translate to "looks like" but something else entirely.

faire + [adjective/noun]

We can use this expression in objective and subjective situations producing different meanings.

monter

This word's original meaning is "to go up," but it can also mean "to start up" a business, a restaurant, etc.

célèbre

The world comes from "celebrated," and one can thus remember its meaning as "famous" in the sense of being celebrated.

How Many Times Has the Eiffel Tower Been Destroyed?

The Eiffel Tower, built in 1889 for the World's Fair in Paris, consequently appeared in many films, but it took a long time for a director to consider destroying it. The first occurrence was in 1965's The Great Race, and most recently, it was laid to waste by machines in the GI Joe franchise big screen adaptation in 2009.