Grammar · Devoir, Falloir, and avoir besoin de

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Learning French - Basic Lesson
Student: John Doe
Taken from Wikibooks: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/French/Lessons/Everyday_life
Grammar · Devoir, Falloir, and avoir besoin de
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To have need of · avoir besoin de
The word le besoin ( /bǝ.zwɛ̃ / (buh-zwa(n))) means need, and thus the expression avoir besoin de
translates to to have need of.
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To have to · Devoir
Present indicative verb to have to, to owe
devoir
/dǝ.vwaʁ/ (duh-vwahr)
je
dois
tu
dois
il
doit
elle
doit
on
doit
nous devons
vous devez
ils
doivent
elles doivent
past participle: dû
/dwa/ (dwah)
/dwa/ (dwah)
/dwa/ (dwah)
I
you
he
she
one
/dǝ.vɔ̃ / (duh-voh(n)) we
/dǝ.ve/ (duh-vay)
you
(dwahv)
they
have to
have to
has to
has to
has to
have to
have to
have to
( /dy/ (dew))
The past participle drops the circumflex accent in its other forms: feminine singular due; masculine
plural dus; feminine plural dues.
Used as a noun, le devoir means duty or exercise.
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To be necessary · Falloir
il
il
falloir
faut
a fallu
/fa.lwaʁ/ (fah-lwahr)
/fɔ/ (foh)
/fa.ly/ (fah-lew)
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to be necessary
it is necessary
it was necessary
Take a lesson with me here:
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Ms Help
Learning French - Basic Lesson
Student: John Doe
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Comparison
The verb falloir differs from similar verbs such as avoir besoin de [faire quelque chose] (to need [to do
something]) and devoir (must, duty, owe). Falloir is always used with the impersonal il only in the
third person singular, whereas devoir can be used with all subject pronouns in all tenses.
Falloir expresses general necessities:
To live, one must eat.
To speak French well, one must conjugate verbs correctly.
Devoir expresses more personally what someone must do:
I want to pass my French test, so I must study verb conjugations.
Avoir besoin de [faire quelque chose] expresses need:
I need to study for my test, it's tomorrow.
J'ai besoin d'etudier pour mon examen, il est demain.
Examples
Il doit aller en France un jour.
He must go to France one day.
L’officier doit veiller aux besoins du soldat.
The officer must ensure the needs of the soldier.
Vous devez passer un examen médical.
You need to take a medical examination.
Il faut faire venir le plombier pour réparer cette conduite d’eau.
One must have the plumber come to repair the water line.
Ms Help
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Take a lesson with me here:
http://www.italki.com/T001172443.htm