Expressing Obligation and Necessity
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When you have to do something, you require certain verbs and formulas. Here’s the French vocabulary and verbs you need to express obligation and necessity.
Verbs and Expressions + Subjunctive
avoir besoin que | to need (s.o to do s.t) | |
demander que | to ask that | |
exiger que | to insist that | |
falloir que | to be necessary that | |
Il est indispensable que | It’s essential that | |
Il est nécessaire que | It’s necessary that | |
Il est obligatoire que | It’s mandatory that | |
Il faut que | It’s necessary that | |
ordonner que | to order that |
Verbs and Expressions + Infinitive
avoir besoin de | to need | |
avoir le devoir de1 | to have the duty of | |
avoir le triste devoir de1 | to have the sad duty of, to regret (that one has) to | |
devoir2 | must, to have to, to be supposed to | |
être censé2 | to be meant / supposed to | |
être dans l’obligation de | to be under an obligation to | |
être de son devoir de3 | to be one’s duty to | |
être forcé à | to have to | |
être obligé de | to have to, be obliged to | |
être tenu de | to be under an obligation to | |
exiger de | to insist on | |
falloir2 | to be necessary to | |
Il est indispensable de | It’s indispensable to | |
Il est nécessaire de | It’s necessary to | |
Il est obligatoire de | It’s mandatory to | |
Il me faut2, 3 | I need to | |
Il m’incombe de1, 3 | It falls to me to | |
Il revient à moi de3 | It falls to me to | |
mettre quelqu’un dans la nécessité de | to compel someone to | |
mettre quelqu’un dans l’obligation de | to put ssomeone under an obligation to | |
ne pas pouvoir faire autrement que de | to have no choice but to | |
obliger quelqu’un à | to require someone to | |
ordonner à quelqu’un de | to order someone to | |
se trouver obligé de | to have to, be obliged to | |
se voir contraint de1 | to be compelled to | |
se voir dans l’obligation de1 | to be obliged to |
Notes
1 These expressions are very formal and are generally restricted to written French.
2 Note that these are not followed by a preposition in French.
Par exemple…
Tu dois manger quelque chose. | You have to eat something. | |
Je suis censé partir demain. | I’m supposed to leave tomorrow. |
3 The possessive adjective, indirect object, and stressed pronoun in these phrases can of course be changed for other people.
Par exemple…
Il est de mon devoir de … | It’s my duty to … | |
Il vous faut … | You need to … |
Adjectives and Adverbs
absolument | absolutely, really | |
essentiel | essential | |
forcément | necessarily | |
impératif | imperative | |
impérativement | imperatively | |
indispensable | essential | |
nécessairement | necessarily | |
obligatoire | obligatory | |
requis | required | |
vraiment | truly |
Miscellaneous Expressions
au besoin | in case of necessity | ||
bon gré mal gré | whether you like it or not | ||
bonnes pratiques | dos and don’ts | ||
choses à faire et à ne pas faire | dos and don’ts | ||
les désirs et les besoins | wants and needs | ||
en cas de besoin | in case of necessity | ||
manquer à ses engagements | to fail to meet one’s obligations | ||
manquer à ses obligations | to fail to meet one’s obligations | ||
ne t’en déplaise | whether you like it or not | ||
un produit de première nécessité | basic necessity | ||
respecter ses engagements | to meet one’s obligations | ||
respecter ses obligations | to meet one’s obligations | ||
sans engagement | (advertising) | without obligation |
Related features
- Devoir vs falloir
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Giving orders
- Infinitives
- Negating verbs
- Subjunctive
- Verbs with prepositions
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