j'ai or je suis

Question

When do I use j'ai or je suis because they both mean the same thing so I don't know when's the time to use which I have

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Gabriele,
This question has been discussed on the Q&A forum previously. Take a look here: When do you use j'ai instead of je suis?
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Gabriele, They don't mean the same thing, J'ai- i have , je suis- I am. In french, to the best of my knowledge, when referring to feelings they use j'ai instead of je suis and the same things applies to age. They say "i have a certain age" instead of I am of certain age.   J'ai quinze ans literally translates to "i have 15 years old to an English speaker but it means I'm 15 years old. So, j'ai faim, j'ai soif, j'ai froid etc, means I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm cold respectively. I hope I've not confused you.

Answer

When you are talking about a state of "being", use être and when you are expressing state of mind or feeling use j'ai