Paul a peur de mourir.

Because French uses the expression avoir peur, literally to have fear, where English usually says to be afraid.

So:

• Paul a peur = Paul is afraid
• not Paul est peur — that is not correct French

This is one of those cases where French and English build the idea differently:

• English: be
  • adjective-like expression
• French: have
  • noun (peur)

A lot of emotion or physical-state expressions work this way in French, such as:

• avoir faim = to be hungry
• avoir soif = to be thirsty
• avoir peur = to be afraid

Peur is a noun meaning fear.

In avoir peur, it is part of a fixed expression:

• avoir peur = to be afraid / to feel fear

So even though English often uses afraid as an adjective, French uses the noun peur with avoir.

Because the expression is avoir peur de + something.

French normally says:

• avoir peur de + noun
• avoir peur de + infinitive

Examples:

• Il a peur des chiens. = He is afraid of dogs.
• Elle a peur de tomber. = She is afraid of falling.
• Paul a peur de mourir.

So the de is required by the expression avoir peur de.

Because after avoir peur de, when the thing feared is an action, French uses an infinitive.

So:

• avoir peur de mourir = to be afraid of dying
• avoir peur de tomber = to be afraid of falling
• avoir peur de perdre son travail = to be afraid of losing one’s job

This is very natural in French. English often uses of + -ing after afraid, while French uses de + infinitive.

Yes. Very often.

Examples:

• Paul a peur de la mort. = Paul is afraid of death.
• Paul a peur des araignées. = Paul is afraid of spiders.
• Paul a peur du noir. = Paul is afraid of the dark.

So both patterns are common:

• avoir peur de + noun
• avoir peur de + infinitive

They are close, but not identical.

• avoir peur de mourir focuses on the process or event of dying
• avoir peur de la mort focuses more on death as an idea or state

In many contexts, they can overlap, but the nuance is useful:

• Il a peur de mourir. = He is afraid of dying.
• Il a peur de la mort. = He fears death.

A learner should notice that French, like English, can express slightly different shades of meaning depending on whether it uses a verb or a noun.

Yes. When the next word begins with a vowel sound, de becomes d'.

For example:

• Elle a peur d'échouer. = She is afraid of failing.
• J'ai peur d'oublier. = I’m afraid of forgetting.

But with mourir, it stays de because mourir begins with a consonant sound:

• de mourir

A rough guide is:

Paul a peur de mourir
Pol ah puhr duh moo-reer

A few pronunciation notes:

• Paul sounds roughly like Pol
• peur has a vowel sound that does not exist exactly in English; it is somewhat like purr but with rounded lips
• de is often a light duh
• mourir sounds roughly like moo-reer, with the French r in the throat

Also, in normal speech, Paul a may connect smoothly, but there is no obligatory strong liaison here like in some other combinations.

Not usually in the same everyday way. Avoir peur de mourir is the most normal and idiomatic expression.

You may see related expressions such as:

• Paul est effrayé = Paul is frightened
• Paul est terrifié à l'idée de mourir = Paul is terrified at the idea of dying

But for the simple idea Paul is afraid of dying, Paul a peur de mourir is the standard natural choice.

You put ne ... pas around the conjugated verb a:

• Paul n'a pas peur de mourir. = Paul is not afraid of dying.

Notice that:

• a becomes n'a
• the rest of the expression stays the same

There are several common ways:

1. Est-ce que Paul a peur de mourir ?
   This is a very common and easy way.

2. Paul a peur de mourir ?
   Common in speech, with rising intonation.

3. Paul a-t-il peur de mourir ?
   More formal or careful style.

All three are correct; they just differ in register and style.

Yes. Paul a peur de mourir is in the present tense because a is the present-tense form of avoir.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• a general fear: Paul is afraid of dying
• a present emotional state: Paul is afraid he might die

French present tense, like English present tense, can sometimes cover both a general truth and a current state. Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Mourir is a verb in the infinitive form, and it is an irregular verb.

Its infinitive means to die. In this sentence, it stays in the infinitive because it follows de after avoir peur.

Some present-tense forms are:

• je meurs
• tu meurs
• il/elle meurt
• nous mourons
• vous mourez
• ils/elles meurent

But in Paul a peur de mourir, you do not conjugate mourir. Only avoir is conjugated.

Yes:

• Il a peur de mourir. = He is afraid of dying.

That is exactly the same structure:

• subject
• avoir in the present tense
• peur de
• infinitive

So once you know the pattern, you can use it with any subject:

• J'ai peur de mourir.
• Tu as peur de mourir.
• Nous avons peur de mourir.