English speakers learning French routinely look for a French word that means "should" — and routinely fail to find one, because there is no such word. "Should" is the conditionnel of devoir. When an English speaker says "you should rest," a French speaker says tu devrais te reposer — same idea, same pragmatic force, but morphologically derived from the verb that ordinarily means "must" or "have to." That single conditionnel ending is doing all the modal work.
This page teaches you how to use devrais in its full range: the everyday register of giving advice, the sharp contrast with the indicative tu dois (which sounds like an order), the past form tu aurais dû (you should have), and the handful of fixed expressions where devoir in the conditionnel is essentially a hedge. By the end, you should be able to give advice in French at adult register without resorting to imperatives or stiff translations.
The core rule
The conditionnel of devoir (je devrais, tu devrais, il devrait, etc.) is the standard French equivalent of English should.
It carries the same modal force as "should": a recommendation, a piece of advice, an obligation that is real but softened. It does not carry the harder force of must or have to, which belong to the indicative je dois / tu dois / il doit.
Tu devrais te reposer un peu, tu as l'air épuisé.
You should rest a bit, you look exhausted.
Vous devriez consulter un médecin si la douleur ne passe pas.
You should see a doctor if the pain doesn't go away.
On devrait partir maintenant si on veut éviter les bouchons.
We should leave now if we want to avoid the traffic jams.
Full conjugation of devoir in the conditionnel présent
The stem is devr- (the same stem as in the futur je devrai) and the endings are the standard imparfait endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | devrais | /ʒə dəvʁɛ/ | I should |
| tu | devrais | /ty dəvʁɛ/ | you should (informal) |
| il / elle / on | devrait | /il dəvʁɛ/ | he / she / we should |
| nous | devrions | /nu dəvʁijɔ̃/ | we should |
| vous | devriez | /vu dəvʁije/ | you should (formal / plural) |
| ils / elles | devraient | /il dəvʁɛ/ | they should |
Four of the six forms — je, tu, il, ils — are pronounced identically /dəvʁɛ/, exactly like the rest of the conditionnel. The subject pronoun is mandatory; without it, listeners can't tell which person you mean.
Why English speakers miss this
In English, "must," "have to," "ought to," and "should" are four different lexical items, each with its own modal verb. In French, the same single verb devoir covers all four meanings; the difference between them is encoded in the mood and tense of devoir, not in a different verb.
| English | French | Form of devoir |
|---|---|---|
| I must / I have to study | Je dois étudier | présent indicatif |
| I should study | Je devrais étudier | conditionnel présent |
| I should have studied | J'aurais dû étudier | conditionnel passé |
| I had to study | J'ai dû étudier / Je devais étudier | passé composé / imparfait |
| I will have to study | Je devrai étudier | futur simple |
The lexical verb is the same in every cell — only the inflection changes. Once you internalize this, the whole devoir paradigm clicks into place: you don't need a French word for "should" because the form devrais is the word.
Tu dois vs tu devrais: a register difference, not a meaning difference
Both tu dois te reposer and tu devrais te reposer translate roughly as "you should rest." But they are not interchangeable. The indicative tu dois is a statement of obligation — you have to, you must. The conditionnel tu devrais is advice — you should, I'd recommend.
| Form | Force | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Tu dois te reposer. | Strong: obligation, command | Doctor to patient; parent to child |
| Tu devrais te reposer. | Soft: advice, recommendation | Friend to friend; colleague to colleague |
In adult-to-adult interaction, tu devrais is almost always the right register. Tu dois sounds like the speaker is asserting authority over the listener — fine for a doctor or a teacher, but rude between equals. The conditionnel takes the same propositional content ("resting is what you ought to do") and downgrades the speaker's authority over the choice ("…but I respect that the decision is yours").
Tu dois prendre tes médicaments tous les jours.
You have to take your medication every day. (doctor's instruction)
Tu devrais peut-être en prendre un peu moins demain.
You should maybe take a little less tomorrow. (friend offering a thought)
The peut-être ("maybe") in the second example layers another hedge on top — a very common pattern. Tu devrais peut-être… is one of the gentlest ways to suggest something in French.
Drilling the form: practical advice contexts
Almost every situation where English would use "you should" maps onto tu devrais / vous devriez. Here are the high-frequency patterns.
Health and well-being
Tu devrais boire plus d'eau pendant la journée.
You should drink more water during the day.
Vous devriez vraiment arrêter de fumer, ça vous ferait du bien.
You should really quit smoking, it would do you good.
Elle devrait dormir plus, elle est crevée.
She should sleep more, she's exhausted. (informal: crevée = wiped out)
Practical recommendations
Tu devrais essayer le restaurant chinois en bas de la rue, c'est délicieux.
You should try the Chinese restaurant at the end of the street — it's delicious.
Vous devriez réserver à l'avance, ils affichent souvent complet le week-end.
You should book in advance — they're often full on weekends.
On devrait commander une pizza ce soir, je n'ai pas envie de cuisiner.
We should order a pizza tonight, I don't feel like cooking.
Decisions and dilemmas
Je devrais lui en parler, mais je ne sais pas comment commencer.
I should talk to him about it, but I don't know how to start.
Tu devrais accepter cette offre, c'est une vraie opportunité.
You should accept this offer — it's a real opportunity.
Ils devraient déménager s'ils veulent vraiment changer de vie.
They should move if they really want to change their lives.
"Should have": the past form aurais dû + infinitive
For the past — "you should have warned me," "I should have left earlier" — French uses the conditionnel passé of devoir + the infinitive of the lexical verb. The auxiliary is avoir, so the form is aurais / aurait / aurions / auriez / auraient + the past participle dû (from devoir).
| Person | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| j' | aurais dû partir | I should have left |
| tu | aurais dû partir | you should have left |
| il / elle / on | aurait dû partir | he / she / we should have left |
| nous | aurions dû partir | we should have left |
| vous | auriez dû partir | you should have left |
| ils / elles | auraient dû partir | they should have left |
After dû, the lexical verb is always in the infinitive — never the past participle. This is exactly parallel to English: should have left is should have + infinitive leave. French does the same: aurais dû partir, never aurais dû parti.
Tu aurais dû me prévenir que tu serais en retard.
You should have warned me you'd be late.
J'aurais dû partir plus tôt, j'ai raté mon train.
I should have left earlier, I missed my train.
On aurait dû réserver à l'avance, maintenant il n'y a plus de place.
We should have booked in advance — now there's no room left.
Vous auriez dû voir sa tête, c'était hilarant.
You should have seen the look on his face — it was hilarious.
This construction is the single most common way to express regret or reproach about the past in French. See Conditionnel passé for regret and reproach for a full treatment of the modal triplet aurais dû / aurais pu / aurais voulu.
Devrais combined with hedges: peut-être, plutôt, vraiment
Native speakers rarely deliver tu devrais on its own; they usually layer in an adverb that further softens or qualifies the recommendation. Three are essential.
- peut-être ("maybe") — softens the advice further, signals the speaker isn't sure
- plutôt ("rather") — suggests an alternative course of action
- vraiment ("really") — intensifies the recommendation; closer to "you really should"
Tu devrais peut-être appeler ta mère, ça fait longtemps.
You should maybe call your mother, it's been a while.
Vous devriez plutôt prendre la ligne 4, c'est plus direct.
You should rather take line 4 — it's more direct.
Tu devrais vraiment essayer ce restaurant, je te le recommande.
You should really try this restaurant — I recommend it to you.
Devrais in indirect speech and reported recommendations
Because devrais is already a conditionnel, it doesn't shift further when you embed it in reported speech — there's no "more conditional" form to move into. This makes it stable in indirect speech.
Le médecin a dit que je devrais boire plus d'eau.
The doctor said I should drink more water. (direct: 'Vous devriez boire plus d'eau.')
Mes parents pensent qu'on devrait acheter plutôt qu'on continue à louer.
My parents think we should buy rather than keep renting.
Comparison with English: should vs ought to vs supposed to
English has several near-synonyms for "should." All of them, in normal French, map onto devrais.
| English | French |
|---|---|
| You should call her. | Tu devrais l'appeler. |
| You ought to call her. | Tu devrais l'appeler. |
| You're supposed to call her. | Tu es censé l'appeler. (subtly different — "expected to") |
| You'd better call her. | Tu ferais mieux de l'appeler. (stronger — implies consequences) |
Tu ferais mieux de + infinitive ("you'd better...") is a stronger near-cousin of tu devrais. It carries an implied threat — you'd better do this, or else. Use it sparingly; tu devrais is the safe default.
Tu ferais mieux de te dépêcher, le train part dans dix minutes.
You'd better hurry, the train leaves in ten minutes.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Looking for a separate word for "should."
❌ Tu shouldrais manger plus de légumes.
There is no such word. 'Should' is the conditionnel of devoir.
✅ Tu devrais manger plus de légumes.
You should eat more vegetables.
Mistake 2: Using tu dois where tu devrais is the right register.
❌ Tu dois essayer ce nouveau café.
Possible but blunt — sounds like a command. For a friendly recommendation, use the conditionnel.
✅ Tu devrais essayer ce nouveau café.
You should try this new café.
Mistake 3: Forgetting the e in devr- and writing dev-.
❌ Tu devais étudier davantage.
Wrong: this is the imparfait (you used to have to / you were supposed to). The conditionnel needs the -r-: tu devrais.
✅ Tu devrais étudier davantage.
You should study more.
Mistake 4: Using a past participle after aurais dû instead of the infinitive.
❌ J'aurais dû parti plus tôt.
Wrong: after dû, the lexical verb stays in the infinitive. The past 'should have' is conditionnel passé of devoir + infinitive.
✅ J'aurais dû partir plus tôt.
I should have left earlier.
Mistake 5: Forgetting the circumflex on dû.
❌ Tu aurais du me prévenir.
Wrong: the masculine singular past participle of devoir takes a circumflex to distinguish it from the partitive article du.
✅ Tu aurais dû me prévenir.
You should have warned me.
Mistake 6: Treating devrait (he/she should) as a complete sentence.
❌ Devrait étudier plus.
Wrong: French requires explicit subject pronouns. The four homophonous forms /dəvʁɛ/ collapse without one.
✅ Il devrait étudier plus.
He should study more.
Key takeaways
- French has no separate word for "should." Use the conditionnel of devoir.
- The conjugation reuses the futur stem devr-: je devrais, tu devrais, il devrait, nous devrions, vous devriez, ils devraient.
- Use tu devrais for advice and recommendation; tu dois is the indicative — stronger, more like an order — and is rude between equals in most contexts.
- "Should have" = aurais dû
- infinitive (not past participle): tu aurais dû me prévenir.
- The masculine singular past participle dû takes a circumflex to distinguish it from the partitive article du. The feminine due and plurals dus / dues don't.
- Common hedges that pair with devrais: peut-être (softening), plutôt (suggesting an alternative), vraiment (intensifying), ferais mieux de (stronger near-synonym).
- Subject pronouns are mandatory: four of the six conditionnel forms of devoir are pronounced identically /dəvʁɛ/.
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