No infinitive?

Mike H.B2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

No infinitive?

Pour etre riche, ____ beaucoup d'argent.  I put "il faut avoir" and it was wrong, "il faut" being correct.  Do we not use the infinitive here?  It doesn't seem right in either language.

Asked 3 years ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Mike,

Il faut beaucoup d'argent = one needs lots of money

 -> to need [something] il faut + noun

Il faut avoir beaucoup d'argent one needs to / must have a lot of money

 -> to need + [to do sth] / must [do sth] = il faut + [infinitive]

 

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Mike,

I understand why you are expecting to use avoir (to have).

The point to bear in mind, however, is that of "obligation" To be rich one needs lots of money.

You would need to write "Pour être riche, Il ME faut beaucoup d'argent"

(In order to be rich, I need lots of money) This is the obligation.

Hope this helps.

Jim

No infinitive?

Pour etre riche, ____ beaucoup d'argent.  I put "il faut avoir" and it was wrong, "il faut" being correct.  Do we not use the infinitive here?  It doesn't seem right in either language.

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Let me take a look at that...