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    Devoir Falloir

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    fatma9903
    This document discusses the French verbs devoir and falloir. Devoir expresses obligation, probability, or supposition when followed by an infinitive, and means "to owe" when followed by a noun. Falloir is stronger and more formal than devoir; it expresses necessity when followed by an infinitive or subjunctive. When followed by a noun, falloir means "to need." The document provides examples of how each verb is conjugated and used.

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    Devoir Falloir

    Uploaded by

    fatma9903
    139 views2 pages
    This document discusses the French verbs devoir and falloir. Devoir expresses obligation, probability, or supposition when followed by an infinitive, and means "to owe" when followed by a noun. Falloir is stronger and more formal than devoir; it expresses necessity when followed by an infinitive or subjunctive. When followed by a noun, falloir means "to need." The document provides examples of how each verb is conjugated and used.

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    This document discusses the French verbs devoir and falloir. Devoir expresses obligation, probability, or supposition when followed by an infinitive, and means "to owe" when followed by a noun. Falloir is stronger and more formal than devoir; it expresses necessity when followed by an infinitive or subjunctive. When followed by a noun, falloir means "to need." The document provides examples of how each verb is conjugated and used.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    139 views2 pages

    Devoir Falloir

    Uploaded by

    fatma9903
    This document discusses the French verbs devoir and falloir. Devoir expresses obligation, probability, or supposition when followed by an infinitive, and means "to owe" when followed by a noun. Falloir is stronger and more formal than devoir; it expresses necessity when followed by an infinitive or subjunctive. When followed by a noun, falloir means "to need." The document provides examples of how each verb is conjugated and used.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Everything you need to know about the irregular French verb devoir

    Devoir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and has a number of different meanings related to concepts like obligation and probability.

    1. Obligation and necessity


    Dois-tu étudier ce soir ?
    Do you have to study tonight?

    Elles doivent manger


    They must / need to eat.

    2. Probability and supposition


    Il doit rentrer avant le dîner
    He should / will probably be back before dinner.

    Nous devons gagner plus cette année


    We should earn more this year.

    Elle doit être à l'école


    She must be at school.

    3. Expectation and intention


    Je devais aller avec eux
    I was supposed to go with them.

    Il devait le faire, mais il a oublié


    He was supposed to do it, but he forgot.

    4. Fatalism and inevitability


    Il devait perdre un jour
    He had to / was bound to lose one day.

    Elle ne devait pas l'entendre avant lundi


    She wasn't to hear it until Monday.

    Translating devoir

    Devoir can be translated by should, must, ought to, have to, supposed to...

    - the distinction between necessity and probability is not always clear:


    Je dois faire la lessive
    I should/must/have to do the laundry.

    Il doit arriver demain


    He is supposed to / should / has to arrive tomorrow.
    To specify "must" rather than "should," add a word like absolument or vraiment:
    Je dois absolument partir
    I really have to go.

    Nous devons vraiment te parler


    We must speak to you.
    To specify "should" rather than "must," use the conditional:
    Tu devrais partir
    You should leave.

    Ils devraient lui parler


    They should talk to him.
    To talk about something that should have happened, use the conditional perfect of devoir plus the infinitive:
    Tu aurais dû manger
    You should have eaten.

    J'aurais dû étudier
    I should have studied.

    Devoir as a transitive verb

    When used transitively (and thus not followed by a verb), devoir means "to owe":
    Combien est-ce qu'il te doit ?
    How much does he owe you?

    Pierre me doit 10 francs


    Pierre owes me 10 francs.

    Conjugations

    Present tense
    je dois
    tu dois
    il doit
    nous devons
    vous devez
    ils doivent
    Using Devoir
    Conjugations of devoir Devoir vs falloir Expressions of obligation

    Devoir vs Falloir - Confusing French Pairs


    Obligation and Necessity

    The French verbs devoir and falloir are used to express obligation and necessity in different ways. Each verb has another meaning when followed by a noun.

    Devoir
    When followed by an infinitive, devoir expresses obligation, probability, or supposition. When followed by a noun it means to owe.

    Je dois partir I have to, I must, I'm supposed to leave

    Je dois 5 dollars I owe 5 dollars

    Je devais I had to, I was supposed to, I owed

    Je devrai / Je devrais I will have to / I would have to, I should

    J'ai dû manger I had to eat, I must have eaten

    J'aurais dû manger (vs j'aurais mangé) I should have eaten (vs I would have eaten)

    The past participle of devoir is dû. When dû is modified to agree with a direct object, it loses the circonflex: dus, due, dues.

    Falloir

    Falloir is stronger and somewhat more formal than devoir; it expresses necessity. Falloir can be used with an infinitive or the subjunctive. It is an impersonal verb, so it does
    not conjugate for different subjects. In order to specify a person, you can use the subjunctive or an indirect object pronoun with the infinitive.

    Il faut travailler It is necessary to work, One needs to work.

    Il me faut travailler, Il faut que je travaille I need to work.

    Il ne faut pas manger One must not eat.

    Il fallait manger We had to eat.

    Il ne nous faut pas manger, Il ne faut pas que nous mangions We don't need to eat, We mustn't eat

    When followed by a noun, falloir means to need.

    Il me faut un stylo. I need a pen.

    Quick summary

    Devoir Falloir

    Type of verb* Personal Impersonal

    Register* Normal Formal/Normal

    Meaning when followed by...

    infinitive must, to have to to be necessary/need to

    subjunctive to be necessary/need to

    noun to owe to need

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