French · conjugation
Falloir conjugation
Falloir means to be necessary; must, have to (impersonal: il faut). In compound tenses it takes avoir. It exists in one person only: il faut, with the past participle fallu.
The tenses you need first
Bold marks the ending. Greyed letters are written and not pronounced. A tie marks a liaison, with the sound you hear under it.
Présentpresent
What is happening now, habits and general truths.
In a sentence
- Il faut arriver à l'heure pour le train.You have to arrive on time for the train.
- Pour apprendre une langue, il faut du temps.To learn a language, you need time.
Passé composépast, completed
A finished action: what happened. The auxiliary in the present, then the past participle.
In a sentence
- Il a fallu que Marie parte avant la fin du film.Marie had to leave before the end of the film.
Imparfaitpast, ongoing
What was going on, what used to happen, descriptions in the past.
In a sentence
- Quand il pleuvait, il fallait un parapluie.When it rained, you needed an umbrella.
Futur simplefuture
What will happen.
In a sentence
- Il faudra que vous montriez vos billets à l'entrée.You will have to show your tickets at the entrance.
Futur prochenear future
What is going to happen: the verb for to go in the present, then the infinitive.
Conditionnel présentconditional
What would happen, and polite requests.
In a sentence
- Il ne faudrait pas que tu rentres trop tard.You shouldn't come home too late.
Subjonctif présentsubjunctive
After expressions of necessity, wish or doubt.
Every other tense
The literary and compound tenses, for reading and for reference.
14 · Plus-que-parfait, Passé simple, Passé antérieur …
Plus-que-parfaitpluperfect
Passé simple
Passé antérieur
Futur antérieur
Subjonctif passé
Subjonctif imparfait
Subjonctif plus-que-parfait
Conditionnel passé première forme
Conditionnel passé deuxième forme
Passé récent
Infinitif présent
Infinitif passé
Participe passé
Gérondif passé
Questions people ask
- What is the past participle of falloir?
- Fallu. In compound tenses it follows the auxiliary avoir: il a fallu.
- Which auxiliary does falloir take?
- Avoir: il a fallu.
- How do you conjugate falloir in the present tense?
- il faut.
- What is the subjunctive of falloir?
- qu'il faille.
More French verbs
Each one with its full table, its auxiliary and real sentences.
- acheterto buy
- aimerto love
- allerto go
- apprendreto learn
- attendreto wait
- avoirto have
- boireto drink
- choisirto choose
- comprendreto understand
- conduireto drive
- connaîtreto know
- courirto run
- croireto believe
- devenirto become
- devoirmust
- direto say or tell something to someone
- dormirto sleep
- écrireto write
- embrasserto kiss
- envoyerto send
- êtreto be
- étudierto study something
- faireto do
- finirto finish
- jouerto play
- lireto read
- mangerto eat
- mettreto put
- ouvrirto open
- parlerto speak
- partirto leave
- perdreto lose
- pouvoircan
- préférerto prefer
- prendreto take
- recevoirto receive
- rendreto give something back
- réussirto succeed
- s'asseoirto sit down
- savoirto know
- sentirto smell
- servirto serve
- sortirto go out
- suivreto follow
- tenirto hold
- vendreto sell
- venirto come
- vivreto live
- voirto see
- vouloirto want
Learn these verbs inside real sentences
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