Learn French: Il faut couper la moitié du tissu. - You have to cut half of the fabric.

Il faut couper la moitié du tissu.

You have to cut half of the fabric.

Breakdown of Il faut couper la moitié du tissu.

of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)

it (impersonal subject)

falloir

to be necessary / must (impersonal)

couper

to cut

Questions & Answers about Il faut couper la moitié du tissu.

Why is it du tissu and not de tissu after la moitié?

The expression is la moitié de (half of). Because we are talking about a specific fabric ("the" fabric), we need the masculine definite article le. In French, de + le always contracts to du.

Could I say le demi du tissu instead of la moitié?

No, you must use la moitié when you mean "the half" as a noun, especially before de. Demi is used as an adjective or prefix to mean "a half something", like in une demi-heure (a half hour) or un demi-litre (a half litre).

Why doesn't Il faut mean "He must" in this sentence?

Il faut is an impersonal expression that translates to "It is necessary", "One must", or "You have to" (in a general sense). The Il here is like the "it" in "It is raining" — it doesn't refer to a specific person. To specifically say "He must", you would use Il doit.

Why is couper left in the infinitive (dictionary) form?

It directly follows Il faut. In French, when an action directly follows an expression of necessity like Il faut, or comes immediately after a conjugated verb like devoir or vouloir, the second verb stays in the infinitive.