Learn French: Vous devez étudier la technique. - You must study the technique.

Vous devez étudier la technique.

You must study the technique.

Breakdown of Vous devez étudier la technique.

her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Vous devez étudier la technique.

Why is étudier not conjugated here?

When two verbs are used together, the second verb usually stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form. Because the first verb devez (must/have to) is already conjugated to match Vous, the second verb étudier stays as an infinitive.

Can devez also mean 'have to'?

Yes! The French verb devoir translates to both 'must' and 'to have to'. So, Vous devez étudier can mean 'You must study' or 'You have to study'. French doesn't make a distinction between the two here.

Is there a liaison between devez and étudier?

Yes! Because devez ends in a consonant (the letter z) and étudier starts with a vowel sound, you pronounce them together. It sounds like devez-z-étudier. This is a common liaison that helps the sentence flow smoothly.

How do we know technique is feminine?

The word uses the feminine article la. As a helpful tip for other words, many French nouns that end in -ique are feminine. It is also a 'true cognate', meaning it looks and means the exact same thing as it does in English!