Question 1

Why do mal (evil) and justice (justice) have the definite articles le and la? We don't use 'the' for them in English.

Accepted Answer

In French, general concepts and abstract nouns (like love, evil, or justice) always require a definite article (le, la, l', or les). So 'evil' becomes le mal and 'justice' becomes la justice.

Question 2

Why is it avant de parler and not just avant parler?

Accepted Answer

When you want to say 'before doing [something]', you must use the phrase avant de followed by an infinitive verb. The word avant by itself is typically followed by a noun, like avant le repas (before the meal).

Question 3

Could I use avant que here instead?

Accepted Answer

You could technically say avant qu'on parle, but avant de plus the infinitive is much more natural and preferred when the subject performing both actions is the same. Since il faut sets up a general rule for everyone, the implied 'doer' of both actions is the same general 'one'.

Question 4

Does Il faut here mean 'He must' or 'One must'?

Accepted Answer

It means 'One must' or 'It is necessary.' The verb falloir (to be necessary) is an impersonal verb, meaning it only ever uses the dummy subject il (like the 'it' in 'it is raining'). It never refers to a specific person.

Question 5

If I wanted to add 'for oneself' to this sentence, how would I use the pronoun soi?

Accepted Answer

Because the sentence sets up a general rule using the impersonal il faut (one must), you would use the indefinite stressed pronoun soi. You would say Il faut juger le mal pour soi... (One must judge evil for oneself...). You use soi instead of lui or elle when the subject is an unspecified person or a general concept like 'one' or 'everyone'.

Il faut juger le mal avant de parler de la justice.

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