il faut with negative

RowenaC1Kwiziq community member

il faut with negative

He must not lose his keys. Are both the following acceptable? il faut qu'il ne perde pas ses clés? et il ne faut pas qu'il perde ses clés?

Asked 1 year ago
AlanC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

But also:

Il ne faut pas perdre ses clés. -- One must not lose one's keys.

Occasionally, il ne faut pas means "it is not necessary", but usually it means "must not", even if that might seem illogical. It's also the most natural way to say it in French.

The same is true for devoir, by the way.

JimC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Rowena,

If we write "Il ne faut pas ......" this seems to me to mean  "It is not necessary ....."

The statement to be translated is "He must not lose his keys" so the negation needs to be on perdre does it not?

This is how I see it  --  hope it helps?

JIm

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Il faut ne pas perdre ses clés. -- One must not lose one's keys.

il faut with negative

He must not lose his keys. Are both the following acceptable? il faut qu'il ne perde pas ses clés? et il ne faut pas qu'il perde ses clés?

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