To express necessity or obligation in French, use the impersonal expression il faut que (it is necessary that / must). Because it imposes an obligation on a specific subject, the verb that follows must be in the subjunctive mood.
For most regular verbs, the subjunctive uses the endings -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent.
| The mayor must develop our neighborhood. | Il faut que le maire développe notre quartier. |
| The municipal team must finance these projects. | Il faut que l'équipe municipale finance ces projets. |
Remember that que drops its vowel and becomes qu' before a word starting with a vowel.
| We must develop the transport network. | Il faut qu'on développe le réseau de transport. |
Using nous and vous
When the subject is nous or vous, the subjunctive endings are -ions and -iez.
| We must sign the petition for the mayor. | Il faut que nous signions la pétition pour le maire. |
Reflexive and Irregular Verbs
With reflexive verbs, the pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) must agree with the subject and sit directly in front of the verb.
| You must get involved to finance the project. | Il faut que vous vous impliquiez pour financer le projet. |
| The citizens must get involved before adding a tax. | Il faut que les citoyens s'impliquent avant d'ajouter une taxe. |
Highly irregular verbs have special subjunctive stems. For example, être (to be) becomes soit for il/elle/on.
| The mayor must be present for this initiative. | Il faut que le maire soit présent pour cette initiative. |
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