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 different 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.
	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

  

Expressions       Obligation and necessity       Conjugations   Devoir     Falloir       All about   Devoir     Falloir       Related   Confusing pairs       *Grammar   Grammar glossary

  

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