Falloir is one of the highest-frequency verbs in French and one of the most peculiar. It is defective — it has no first-person, second-person, or plural forms at all. It exists only as il faut, il fallait, il a fallu, il faudra, il faudrait, qu'il faille, and a small set of compound forms built on the participle fallu. The il is a dummy subject with no real-world referent, like English it in it is raining or it is necessary.
What falloir lacks in inflectional range it makes up for in syntactic productivity. Il faut attaches to bare infinitives (il faut partir), to nouns (il faut du courage), to que + subjunctive (il faut que tu partes), and — with an indirect-object pronoun — to a thing the speaker needs (il me faut un café). It is also the most productive trigger of the subjunctive in spoken French. This page lays out every form and every construction.
This is the verb-reference entry. For deeper coverage of the modal/impersonal interplay, see verbs/impersonal/falloir-and-il-faut. For the subjunctive trigger specifically, see verbs/subjunctive/triggers/falloir.
Why falloir has no other persons
Defective verbs are verbs whose paradigm is incomplete by design — not because forms have been lost, but because they were never available. Falloir expresses an impersonal necessity: the situation, not any individual, is what calls for action. There is no *je faux, no *nous fallons, no *vous faillez. These are not "rare" — they simply do not exist.
When a specific subject must be indicated, French does not conjugate falloir differently. It keeps il faut and adds either an indirect-object pronoun (il me faut) or a que clause (il faut que je). Both strategies push the personal information off the verb itself.
The simple tenses
Each of the simple tenses has exactly one form: third-person singular with il.
Présent de l'indicatif
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| il | faut | /fo/ |
The pronunciation is exactly /fo/ — identical to the noun faux (false) and to faux in un faux pas. Context disambiguates.
Il faut que je file, mon train part dans dix minutes.
I have to dash, my train leaves in ten minutes.
Il faut un peu de patience pour faire pousser des tomates.
It takes a little patience to grow tomatoes.
Imparfait
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| il | fallait |
Il fallait corresponds to English I had to / one had to / it was necessary. Used for past habitual obligation or background necessity.
Quand j'étais petit, il fallait toujours finir son assiette.
When I was little, you always had to finish your plate.
Il fallait voir la tête qu'il a faite — c'était hilarant.
You should have seen the face he made — it was hilarious. (informal)
That second example shows a common idiomatic use: il fallait voir + noun-clause = you should have seen — a present-day comment on a past event.
Passé simple (literary)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| il | fallut |
Confined to literary narration. Il fallut /il fa.ly/ marks a one-off necessity in a literary past.
Il fallut trois jours pour atteindre le sommet.
It took three days to reach the summit. (literary)
Futur simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| il | faudra |
The futur stem is faudr- — irregular, with the same -aud- alternation that valoir shows (il vaudra) and vouloir shows (je voudrai). Pronounced /fodʁa/.
Il faudra prévoir des sandwichs pour la route.
We'll need to bring sandwiches for the road.
Il faudra que tu rappelles ta grand-mère ce week-end.
You'll have to call your grandma back this weekend.
Conditionnel présent
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| il | faudrait |
Il faudrait is enormously useful — it is the standard "we should / one ought to / it would be a good idea to" of everyday speech. Softer than il faut, more polite than tu dois, and very natural between adults.
Il faudrait penser à arroser les plantes avant de partir.
We should think about watering the plants before we leave.
Il faudrait que tu lui en parles, ça ne va pas pouvoir continuer comme ça.
You ought to talk to him about it — this can't go on like this.
Subjonctif présent
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (qu')il | faille |
Qu'il faille /kil faj/ is the subjunctive form, triggered by another subjunctive context (bien que, avant que, pour que, je doute que, etc.).
Bien qu'il faille beaucoup de patience, ça vaut le coup.
Although it requires a lot of patience, it's worth it.
Je doute qu'il faille s'inquiéter pour si peu.
I doubt we need to worry over so little.
Participles
- Participe passé: fallu (invariable — never agrees, since the impersonal il has no number or gender)
- Participe présent: does not exist in standard usage
- Gérondif: does not exist
The absence of a present participle and gérondif is another consequence of falloir's impersonal nature: those forms presuppose an agent capable of "necessitating," and falloir doesn't admit one.
The compound tenses
Falloir uses avoir as its auxiliary. The participle fallu is invariable.
Passé composé
avoir (présent, 3sg) + fallu
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| il | a fallu |
Il a fallu expresses a one-time past necessity that was acted on. The closest English match is we had to or it was necessary.
Il a fallu trois heures pour arriver, à cause des embouteillages.
It took three hours to get there, because of the traffic.
Il a fallu que je rentre tôt, le bébé pleurait.
I had to go home early — the baby was crying.
Plus-que-parfait
avoir (imparfait, 3sg) + fallu
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| il | avait fallu |
Il avait fallu plusieurs réunions pour parvenir à un accord.
It had taken several meetings to reach an agreement.
Conditionnel passé
avoir (conditionnel, 3sg) + fallu
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| il | aurait fallu |
Il aurait fallu + infinitive or que + subjunctive past = we should have / it would have been necessary. A regret form, parallel to j'aurais dû.
Il aurait fallu réserver plus tôt, c'est complet maintenant.
We should have booked earlier — it's full now.
Il aurait fallu que tu m'appelles avant de partir.
You should have called me before leaving.
The four constructions of il faut
This is the heart of the entry. Il faut is meaningless on its own — it always attaches to something. There are four standard patterns, each with a different feel.
1. il faut + infinitive — generic obligation
The simplest pattern. No subject is specified; the obligation applies to people in general (or to "us" by implicature in a conversation).
Il faut manger pour vivre, et pas vivre pour manger.
One must eat to live, not live to eat.
Il faut faire attention en traversant cette route.
You have to be careful crossing this road.
Il faut absolument goûter cette tarte, elle est divine.
You absolutely have to try this pie, it's divine.
This is the form to use when the obligation is general or shared. English speakers often translate it as you have to — this is correct, but the you is generic, not pointed at the listener specifically.
2. il faut + noun — needing something
When il faut is followed by a noun (with or without an article, depending on the determiner), it means one needs or it takes.
Il faut du temps pour bien faire les choses.
It takes time to do things well.
Il faut une carte d'identité pour entrer.
You need an ID to get in.
Il faut au moins deux personnes pour porter ce meuble.
It takes at least two people to carry this piece of furniture.
3. il faut que + subjunctive — pointed obligation
When you specify the subject of the obligation, you use il faut que + a subjunctive clause. This is the only way to indicate who specifically must do something while still using falloir.
Il faut que tu me dises la vérité, c'est important.
You have to tell me the truth — it's important.
Il faut qu'on finisse ce dossier avant ce soir.
We have to finish this file before tonight.
Il faut que je passe à la pharmacie en rentrant.
I need to stop by the pharmacy on my way home.
This construction is enormously frequent — il faut que is one of the top three subjunctive triggers in spoken French (alongside je veux que and avant que). Every time you mean "I/you/he/we have to do X" and you want to say it with falloir, this is the route.
4. il me/te/lui/nous/vous/leur faut — needing something specifically
When you want to say "I need X / you need X / he needs X" with falloir, you slide an indirect-object pronoun in between il and faut. The thing needed comes after.
| Pronoun | Construction | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| me | il me faut | I need |
| te | il te faut | you need |
| lui | il lui faut | he/she needs |
| nous | il nous faut | we need |
| vous | il vous faut | you (pl./formal) need |
| leur | il leur faut | they need |
Il me faut un café avant de pouvoir parler à qui que ce soit.
I need a coffee before I can talk to anyone.
Il te faut combien de temps pour te préparer ?
How long do you need to get ready?
Il leur faut un nouveau lave-vaisselle, le vieux est en panne.
They need a new dishwasher — the old one is broken.
The construction is slightly more formal than j'ai besoin de (I need), but very common in everyday speech. Many native speakers use both interchangeably; il me faut tends to feel a touch more measured or definitive.
Il nous faudrait un coup de main, on n'y arrivera pas tout seuls.
We could use a hand — we won't manage on our own.
That last example uses the conditional faudrait with the nous indirect object — the standard register-softener combination.
il faut versus devoir
The two main French ways to say must / have to are il faut (impersonal) and devoir (personal). They overlap heavily, but with different defaults.
| il faut | devoir | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Impersonal il | Personal (je, tu, il...) |
| Generic obligation | il faut partir | (less natural — on doit partir works) |
| Specific obligation | il faut que tu partes | tu dois partir |
| Need (a thing) | il me faut un café | (devoir doesn't take noun objects) |
| Deduction (must = probably) | (no) | il doit être malade |
| Owe | (no) | tu me dois 20 € |
For generic obligation, French strongly prefers il faut over on doit — il faut partir is more idiomatic than on doit partir. For specific obligation, both are common: il faut que tu partes and tu dois partir are interchangeable in most contexts. Only devoir covers deduction (il doit être tard) and the literal sense of owing money.
Comparison with English
Three friction points for English speakers:
There is no single English verb that captures falloir. Translations rotate among must, have to, need to, should, one ought to, it takes, it's necessary — depending on context. Don't try to map falloir to one English equivalent; let the context decide.
The dummy il has no English counterpart in some constructions. Il pleut matches it is raining one-to-one, but il faut partir has no exact English template — it must to leave is ungrammatical in English. The closest is one must leave or we have to leave.
The il faut que
- subjunctive structure is the entry point to the French subjunctive.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Trying to conjugate falloir for a specific subject.
❌ Je faux partir maintenant.
Wrong — *falloir* has no first-person form. Use *il faut que je parte* or switch to *devoir*: *je dois partir*.
✅ Il faut que je parte maintenant.
I have to leave now.
Mistake 2: Using indicative after il faut que.
❌ Il faut que tu pars tôt.
Wrong — *il faut que* always triggers the subjunctive: *que tu partes*.
✅ Il faut que tu partes tôt.
You have to leave early.
Mistake 3: Using avoir before the noun in the il me faut construction.
❌ Il me faut d'un café.
Wrong — *il me faut* takes a direct noun, no preposition: *il me faut un café*. The *de* construction is *avoir besoin de un café* → *avoir besoin d'un café*.
✅ Il me faut un café.
I need a coffee.
Mistake 4: Confusing fallu with fallut in writing.
❌ Hier, il fallut faire la queue pendant une heure.
Wrong tense for everyday speech — *fallut* is the literary passé simple. Use the passé composé: *il a fallu*.
✅ Hier, il a fallu faire la queue pendant une heure.
Yesterday we had to wait in line for an hour.
Mistake 5: Writing il faux instead of il faut.
❌ Il faux qu'on parte.
Wrong — *faux* is the adjective *false*. The verb is *faut* (no x).
✅ Il faut qu'on parte.
We have to leave.
Key takeaways
Falloir is defective: only third-person singular forms exist, all with the dummy subject il. The frequency-weighted core is six forms: il faut (present), il fallait (imparfait), il a fallu (passé composé), il faudra (futur), il faudrait (conditional), qu'il faille (subjunctive). Lock these in.
There are four constructions: il faut + infinitive (generic), il faut + noun (need a thing), il faut que + subjunctive (specific obligation), and il me/te/lui faut + noun (someone needs a thing). The third is the dominant subjunctive trigger in spoken French.
For English speakers, falloir is the verb you reach for whenever you would say one must, we have to, it takes, or it is necessary in English. Il faudrait — the conditional — is the everyday "we should" of polite French, softer than il faut, more direct than the passive voice. Use it freely.
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