All About 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 say that 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

All tenses