Breakdown of Il faut vérifier son identité.
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
il
it (impersonal subject)
falloir
to be necessary / must (impersonal)
vérifier
to check
l'identité
the identity (f)
Questions & Answers about Il faut vérifier son identité.
Why is it son identité if identité is a feminine word?
Even though identité is a feminine noun, it starts with a vowel. In French, you must use the masculine possessive adjectives (mon, ton, son) before feminine words that start with a vowel or a silent H to make the pronunciation flow smoothly.
The English translation says 'You must', but doesn't il mean 'he'?
Il faut is a set phrase meaning 'it is necessary' or 'one must'. The il here is impersonal, like the 'it' in 'it is raining'. While it literally means 'it is necessary to verify', we usually translate it as a general 'you must' or 'we have to' in English.
How can we use the conditional tense from this lesson to make this sentence more polite?
The phrase il faut is in the present tense and can sound like a strict command. To soften it into a polite request or suggestion, you can change it to the conditional form il faudrait, which translates more closely to 'it would be necessary' or 'you should'.
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