How French works
When you want to express the idea of having to do something, the commonest way is to use devoir plus another verb . Devoir conjugates as follows:
| devoir to have to | ||
|---|---|---|
| je | dois | |
| tu | dois | |
| il / elle | doit | |
| nous | devons | |
| vous | devez | |
| ils / elles | doivent | |
Like pouvoir, devoir is nearly always used to introduce a verb .
Je dois faire mes devoirs
I must do my homework
Il doit faire plus d'efforts
He must make more effort
Nous devons arriver à neuf heures
We must arrive at nine o’clock
Elles doivent rentrer avant le dîner
They must get back before dinner
Like you must in English, tu dois can sometimes sound a bit harsh. A way of “softening” it is to use the form known as the conditional:
Tu devrais t'excuser
You ought to apologize
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