devoir details

ByFast French

The French verb “devoir” means “to have to” or “must.” An earlier post looked at “devoir” in a general sense. Let’s examine a few specific aspects of “devoir” that are indispensable for reading and talking in French.

Past participle

The past participle of “devoir” is “dû.” Unlike the past participles of “avoir, savoir, vouloir, pouvoir, voir, boire” which all end in an unaccented “u” (ie “eu, su, voulu, pu, vu, bu”), the past participle of “devoir” has a circumflex accent on the last letter.

In the passé composé, “dû” translates as “had to.”

  • j’ai dû partir (I had to leave)
  • ils ont dû demander (they had to ask)
  • elle a dû s’excuser (she had to apologise)
  • tu a dû grimper (you had to climb)

In the plus-que-parfait, “dû” means “had had to,” although the second “had” is not usually written or said in English.

  • j’avais dû partir (I had had to leave)
  • ils avaient dû demander (they had had to ask)
  • elle avait dû s’excuser (she had had to apologise)
  • tu avait dû grimper (you had had to climb)

In the present conditional, “devoir” means “should.”

  • je devrais partir (I should leave)
  • ils devraient demander (they should ask)
  • elle devrait s’excuser (she should apologise)
  • tu devrais grimper (you should climb)

In the past conditional, “devoir” means “should have.”

  • j’aurais dû partir (I should have left)
  • ils auraient dû demander (they should have asked)
  • elle aurait dû s’excuser (she should have apologised)
  • tu aurais dû grimper (you should have climbed)

Don’t miss new articles!

Get 1 email a week with new articles about French

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy

Similar Posts

  • Faire des ravages

    ByFast French

    The French phrase faire des ravages is a common expression that translates literally to “to make ravages” or “to cause destruction.” The verb faire means “to make” or “to do,” while ravages is the plural noun meaning “damage,” “destruction,” or “havoc.” Literal meaning In its literal sense, faire des ravages describes actual destruction or damage…

  • sont, ont, font, vont

    ByFast French

    In French, certain verbs such as “être” (to be), “avoir” (to have), “faire” (to do/make), and “aller” (to go) have unique conjugation patterns. Interestingly, the third person plural forms (“they” form) of these verbs all end in “ont.” No other French verbs have the “they” form ending in “ont.” This article will explore the present…

  • verb: se moquer de

    ByFast French

    Etymology of “Se Moquer De” The verb “se moquer de” finds its roots in Old French, where the word “mocquer” meant “to mock” or “to make fun of.” Over time, this verb evolved, and the reflexive form “se moquer de” emerged. Usage of “Se Moquer De”

  • savoir vs connaître

    ByFast French

    The French verbs savoir and connaître both relate to knowledge, but they are used in different ways. In general, savoir means “to know a fact,” “to know how,” or “to know information.” Connaître means “to know” a person, place, thing, or subject because you are familiar with it. Choosing the right verb is one of…

  • huit jours & quinze jours

    ByFast French

    Huit jours and quinze jours are French time phrases meaning “a week” and “a fortnight” respectively. Literally they translate as “eight days” and “fifteen days,” but in practice they refer to seven and fourteen days. The mismatch is a long-standing feature of the language, with roots in Roman methods of counting and in legal and…

2 Comments

  1. so how does one translate would
    If it rains tomorrow I would have to cancel the concert
    for example
    Adam could visit us on Monday. This tells us that it is possible Adam will visit on Monday, maybe he can visit us, but maybe he has other options, too. Visiting us is one possibility.
    Adam would visit us on Monday. This tells us that we can imagine a situation in which Adam wants to visit us on Monday, but maybe it is not actually possible. Adam is willing to visit us, under the right conditions or if he can.
    Adam should visit us on Monday. This tells us that Adam visiting on Monday is a good idea, or that it is something Adam is obligated to do.

  2. If it rains tomorrow I would have to cancel the concert – S’il pleut demain, je devrais annuler le concert (present conditional of “devoir”)

    Adam could visit us on Monday – Adam pourrait nous rendre visite lundi (present conditional of “pouvoir”)

    Adam would visit us on Monday – Adam nous rendrait visite lundi (present conditional of “rendre”)

    Adam should visit us on Monday – Adam devrait nous rendre visite lundi (present conditional of “devoir”)

    There is not an exact match between English and French verb tenses (or between English words and French words). There is some overlap in meaning among the French verb tenses (as you can see in the above examples). That is because French verb tenses have developed from Latin verb tenses, while English verb tenses are Germanic in origin. There are certainly many similarities between English and French, but there is no direct correlation.

Comments are closed.