Paul a peur de parler en public.

In French, fear is usually expressed with the verb avoir (to have), not être (to be).

• Paul a peur = literally Paul has fear → idiomatically Paul is afraid.
• Paul est peur is incorrect.

This is the same pattern as:

• avoir faim (to be hungry)
• avoir soif (to be thirsty)
• avoir chaud / froid (to be hot / cold)

So you must learn avoir peur as a fixed expression meaning to be afraid.

The noun peur is followed by the preposition de when it introduces an infinitive verb.

Structure:

• avoir peur de + infinitive

Examples:

• Paul a peur de parler.
• Elle a peur de conduire.
• Nous avons peur de tomber.

You cannot drop de here.
❌ Paul a peur parler en public is incorrect.
✅ Paul a peur de parler en public is correct.

After a preposition like de, French uses the infinitive form of the verb, not a conjugated form.

• Paul a peur de parler en public.
  Literally: Paul has fear of to speak in public.

If you used a conjugated verb, the structure would have to change:

• Paul a peur quand il parle en public.
  Paul is afraid when he speaks in public.

So:

• de + parler (infinitive) → of speaking
• quand il parle (conjugated) → when he speaks

Normally, no. In this idiomatic expression, peur is used without an article:

• ✅ avoir peur de…
• ❌ avoir la peur de… (sounds wrong in everyday French)

You do sometimes see la peur de in more literary or descriptive contexts where peur is treated as a full noun, not as part of the idiom:

• La peur de parler en public est très répandue.
  The fear of speaking in public is very widespread.

But with avoir, stick to:

• Paul a peur de…

Peur is a feminine noun: la peur.

In Paul a peur de parler en public, you don’t see the article, so the gender doesn’t visibly affect the sentence.

You would see the gender in, for example:

• La peur de parler en public est compréhensible.
• Cette peur est très courante.

But in avoir peur de + infinitive, you just use the fixed expression; gender doesn’t change the form.

en public and au public don’t mean the same thing.

• en public = in public, in front of other people in general
  → the situation: speaking where others can see/hear you

• au public = to the audience / to the public (as a group of people)
  → the target: speaking to that group

So:

• Paul a peur de parler en public.
  He is afraid of the situation of speaking where people can see/hear him.

• Paul a peur de parler au public.
  He is afraid of speaking to the audience (this is less common and sounds more specific, like a speaker addressing “the public” as a defined group).

En public is a fixed expression meaning in public, i.e. in front of other people, where others can see or hear you.

It doesn’t specify how many people or what kind of event; it can be:

• giving a speech
• asking a question in a meeting
• performing on stage
• even sometimes just talking about personal things where others can hear

So parler en public = to speak in public / to speak in front of others.

Yes, that’s natural French, with a slightly more formal or specific nuance.

• Paul a peur de parler en public.
  Very general: he’s afraid of speaking in public.

• Paul a peur de prendre la parole en public.
  Focuses more on the idea of taking the floor, speaking up in a formal context (meeting, debate, etc.).

Both are correct; parler en public is broader and more neutral.

Use the normal French negation ne … pas around the verb avoir:

• Paul n’a pas peur de parler en public.

Spoken French often drops ne:

• Paul a pas peur de parler en public. (informal, not for writing)

But in standard written French, you need:

• Paul n’a pas peur de…

Use avoir in the appropriate past tense.

Most common:

1. Passé composé (completed action in the past):

   • Paul a eu peur de parler en public.
     Paul was afraid to speak in public (on that occasion).

2. Imparfait (ongoing or repeated situation in the past):

   • Paul avait peur de parler en public.
     Paul used to be afraid / was afraid (generally) to speak in public.

They express different ideas and use different structures.

1. Paul a peur de parler en public.

   • Subject of peur and parler is the same: Paul.
   • Structure: avoir peur de + infinitive.
   • Meaning: Paul is afraid of speaking in public himself.

2. Paul a peur qu’il parle en public.

   • Subject of peur is Paul; subject of parle is il (= someone else, or possibly Paul, but context needed).
   • Structure: avoir peur que + subjunctive.
   • parle here is subjunctive (same spelling as present, but different mood).
   • Meaning: Paul is afraid that he (some other person / or he himself, depending on context) will speak in public.

So:

• Same subject → de + infinitive
• Different subject (or more distance/uncertainty) → que + subjunctive

Approximate guide (standard French):

• Paul → [pol] (like “pole” but with a shorter o)
• a → [a] (short “ah”)
• peur → [pœr] (like “purr” but with rounded lips; between “uh” and “er”)
• de → [də] (like a very short, weak “duh”)
• parler → [paʁle] (par- as in “par”, r is uvular in the throat, final -er sounds like -é)
• en → [ɑ̃] (nasal vowel: like “ah” but through the nose)
• public → [pyblik] (pyu-bleek; u is like German ü or the sound in “tu”)

Spoken smoothly, it becomes something like:
[pol a pœr də paʁle ɑ̃ pyblik].