il faut - il faut que

il faut, il faut que

Part of It’s so French! | Verbalize it

Il faut and il faut que are our very French way of saying ‘we have to’, ‘one must’, ‘should’, or ‘it’s necessary to’. We’re digging deep into grammar today. I looove it 🙂

Il faut and il faut que sont notre façon très française de dire ‘we have to’, ‘one must’, ‘should’, ou ‘it’s necessary to’ en anglais. On creuse profond dans la grammaire ici. J’adooooore.

• il faut is one of those expressions that doesn’t work like it does in English.
• il faut is a neutral, impersonal form of the verb FALLOIR.
• It is used only with IL and ÇA, the third person singular, an impersonal form. These types of verbs are called ‘defective verbs’.
• The closest translation for ‘il faut’ is ‘it’s necessary to’, or ‘[we] have to’, or ‘must’, ‘should’, etc…
• il faut is mainly followed directly by an infinitive or by QUE along with a subjunctive verb. And that’s where it might get tricky.

French in context

• Il faut attendre maintenant.
  • [You/We…] have to wait now.
• Il faut que le chien attende maintenant.
  • The dog must wait now.

Of course, ‘il faut (que)’ can be conjugated with different tenses and can be negative:

• Il ne faut pas (que)
  • [You] don’t have to
• Il faudra (que)
  • [It] will be necessary that
• Il ne faudrait jamais (que)
  • [It] should never be

Exercice - Practice

Write a French translation with a version of ‘il faut’. Answers may vary. Italics letters are for subjunctive verbs.

English

1. We have to reserve a table at the restaurant.
2. We have to pick a restaurant.
3. You’ll have to watch the soccer game at Karen’s.
4. The armoire is upstairs, but it took two people to handle it and bring it upstairs. (it had to be dealt with between 2 people)
5. It took time for her knee to get better.
6. When do you have to be done?
7. I don’t know what (I have) to say.
8. She has what it takes to become a good vet.
9. It takes 20 minutes to make this dish.
10. Put yourself in his shoes (You’ll have to understand him), he doesn’t have enough money.
11. One must adapt to the modern world.
12. She’d better not failed at her 2-year vocational degree.
13. He going to have to wish her a happy birthday eventually.
14. I’ve got to have these rollerblades.
15. The lawyers should have come to a settlement.
16. You have to be naïve to believe what this politician says.
17. He’d need a miracle to get his degree.
18. We just had to manage.
19. We almost didn’t come.
20. I’m missing three months to get full retirement.

Français

1. Il faut que nous réservions une table au resto.
2. Il nous faut choisir un resto.
3. Il faudra que vous regardiez le match de foot chez Corinne.
4. L’armoire est en haut, mais il a fallu que nous nous y prenions à deux pour la monter.
5. Il fallait du temps pour que son genou guérisse.
6. Quand faut-il que tu aies fini ?
7. Je ne sais pas ce qu’il faut que je dise.
8. Elle a tout ce qu’il faut pour devenir une bonne véto.
9. Il faut 20 minutes pour faire ce plat.
10. Il faut le comprendre, il n’a pas assez d’argent.
11. Il faut s’adapter au monde moderne.
12. Il ne faudrait pas qu’elle rate son BTS.
13. Il faudra bien qu’il lui souhaite son anniversaire.
14. Il me faut ces patins.
15. Il aurait fallu que les avocats arrivent à une décision.
16. Il faut être naïf pour croire ce que dit ce politicien.
17. Il lui faudrait un miracle pour qu’il passe son diplôme.
18. Il a bien fallu qu’on se débrouille.
19. Il s’en est fallu de peu pour qu’on ne vienne pas.
20. Il s’en faut de trois mois pour que j’aie ma retraite à 100%.

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