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"Oui j’ai bien hâte de voir ça."

Why is it "j'ai" and not "je suis"?

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  • There are a bunch of these fixed expressions that use avoir. Here's a worksheet I use with my students to teach them some of the most common ones. Can easily be done independently as well.
    – Luke Sawczak ♦
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 13:37

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Avoir hâte is a set expression so you shouldn't try to analyze it word by word. It means to look forward1 which incidentally is also a set expression.

TLFi: Hâte

− Locution Avoir (grande, grand') hâte (suivi de de + infinitif ou de que + proposition). Être (très) pressé de. Maintenant qu'ils étaient décidés, ils avaient hâte que Christophe fût déjà parti (Romain Rolland, Jean-Christophe : La révolte, 1907, p. 622). J'ai grand'hâte de savoir quand tu rentres. J'ai grand'hâte d'avoir de meilleures nouvelles de Jacqueline (Alain-Fournier, Correspondances [avec Rivière], 1913, p. 336). On s'amuse bien, on ne se voit plus !... Les buées repartent et s'envolent... Je ne me trouve plus pressé du tout... J'ai pas hâte de me rendre au ,,Meanwell''... Ça me plaît bien moi l'endroit du quai (Céline, Mort à crédit, 1936, p. 251).

1 among other meanings. See Lambie's comment.

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  • It is not necessarily to look forward at all. Être (très) pressé de. to be in a hurry to do something; to be anxious about doing something or to do something. J'ai pas hâte de me rendre au , I'm in no hurry to go or get to etc. In the declarative: I'm anxious to go.
    – Lambie
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 15:48
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You are dealing with an idiomatic expression, "avoir hâte de", "avoir hâte que".

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(Internaute)
Avoir hâte

Signification : Être pressé de quelque chose, ou de la venue d'un évènement.

In English, it could be translated as "can't wait for".

  • J'ai hâte que vous le rencontriez.
    I can't wait for you to meet him.
  • J'ai hâte d'être en vacances.
    I can't wait for the holidays.
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  • The Internaute is often an unreliable source of information. The date is wrong (début du XXe siècle) and is clearly contradicted by the NGrams. Avoir hâte was already used in the 17th century, and likely earlier.
    – jlliagre
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 10:26

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