Present
Présent · now, habits and facts
- it is necessary
FRENCH VERB
falloir
to be necessary
- #11 most used
- Irregular -ir verb
- Past participle: fallu
- Present participle: fallissant
Conjugation
Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.
Past
Passé composé · finished actions
- it was necessary
Imperfect
Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”
- it used to be necessary
Future
Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common
- it will be necessary
Conditional
Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests
- it would be necessary
Present subjunctive
Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”
- (that) it be necessary
How to use falloir
One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.
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Present
Il faut réserver, le restaurant est petit.
You have to book, the restaurant is small.
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Past
Il a fallu attendre une heure aux urgences.
We had to wait an hour at A&E.
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Imperfect
Il fallait le dire plus tôt !
You should have said so earlier!
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Future
Il faudra partir avant six heures.
We'll have to leave before six.
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Conditional
Il faudrait acheter du pain pour ce soir.
We should buy some bread for tonight.
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Present subjunctive
Je ne pense pas qu'il faille un visa.
I don't think a visa is needed.
Good to know
- Only with il : il faut + infinitive is you have to, we need to; il faut que takes the subjunctive.
- Il me faut un billet is I need a ticket.
Where you hear falloir
The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.
French · Beginner Level 1
- Il faut prendre le train maintenant. We need to take the train now.
- Il fallait partir plus tôt. We needed to leave earlier.
- Il va falloir chercher une chambre. I'll need to look for a room.
French · Beginner Level 2
- Il me faut un lit. I need a bed.
- Il m'a fallu deux heures pour monter le lit. It took me two hours to put the bed together.
- Il va falloir fêter ça ! We're going to have to celebrate!
Verbs like this one
The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ir verb.