Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to be necessary.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | — | Not used | |
| tu | — | Not used | |
| il (impersonal) | faut | it is necessary | |
| nous | — | Not used | |
| vous | — | Not used | |
| ils / elles | — | Not used |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Il faut attendre ici.
It is necessary to wait here.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | — | Not used | |
| tu | — | Not used | |
| il (impersonal) | a fallu | it was necessary | |
| nous | — | Not used | |
| vous | — | Not used | |
| ils / elles | — | Not used |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, il a fallu attendre une heure.
Yesterday, it was necessary to wait an hour.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference. A dash marks a person absent from this source paradigm and is excluded from practice. Impersonal uses take il.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | — | Not used | |
| tu | — | Not used | |
| il (impersonal) | fallait | it was necessary | |
| nous | — | Not used | |
| vous | — | Not used | |
| ils / elles | — | Not used |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, il fallait réserver par téléphone.
Back then, it was necessary to book by phone.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | — | Not used | |
| tu | — | Not used | |
| il (impersonal) | faudra | it will be necessary | |
| nous | — | Not used | |
| vous | — | Not used | |
| ils / elles | — | Not used |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Demain, il faudra partir tôt.
Tomorrow, it will be necessary to leave early.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | — | Not used | |
| tu | — | Not used | |
| il (impersonal) | faudrait | it would be necessary | |
| nous | — | Not used | |
| vous | — | Not used | |
| ils / elles | — | Not used |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Sans voiture, il faudrait prendre le bus.
Without a car, it would be necessary to take the bus.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | — | Not used | |
| tu | — | Not used | |
| il (impersonal) | faille | (that) it is necessary | |
| nous | — | Not used | |
| vous | — | Not used | |
| ils / elles | — | Not used |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible qu'il faille changer de train.
It may be necessary to change trains.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Falloir is impersonal: only il is used. Il faut expresses necessity, not a particular person.
Meaning & usage
- to need, have to, to be necessary (that)
- to take (time)
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations