When to use "il faut", and when to use "il faut QUE"?
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
AurélieNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq
When to use "il faut", and when to use "il faut QUE"?
Can I say "On faut faire quelque chose" ?
Asked 9 years ago
"Falloir" is a very peculiar verb in French: the main thing to remember is that it can only be used in the impersonal form: "il faut". You cannot say: "je faus, tu faus, on faut" etc...
"Il faut" is easy to use therefore when in a general context, meaning 'one', 'we' or 'people' must...
e.g. Il faut fermer la bouche quand on mange. (One must close one's mouth when one eats.)
However, it gets trickier when you need to express 'I, you, he, she, [specific]we... must': that is when you use "Il faut que" + the right person + verb in Le Subjonctif.
e.g. Il faut que je sois à l'heure demain. (I must be on time tomorrow.)
I hope that's helpful.
"Il faut" is easy to use therefore when in a general context, meaning 'one', 'we' or 'people' must...
e.g. Il faut fermer la bouche quand on mange. (One must close one's mouth when one eats.)
However, it gets trickier when you need to express 'I, you, he, she, [specific]we... must': that is when you use "Il faut que" + the right person + verb in Le Subjonctif.
e.g. Il faut que je sois à l'heure demain. (I must be on time tomorrow.)
I hope that's helpful.
LauraNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq
Very good explanation!
You can also use an indirect object pronoun, e.g., Il me faut être à l'heure.
Aurélie asked:
When to use "il faut", and when to use "il faut QUE"?
Can I say "On faut faire quelque chose" ?
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