Breakdown of L'avion a finalement dû atterrir à Londres.
avoir
to have
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
l'avion
the airplane (m)
Londres
London
Questions & Answers about L'avion a finalement dû atterrir à Londres.
Why is a dû used here (passé composé) instead of devait (imparfait)?
Because the passé composé tells us the action was actually completed. When you use devoir in the passé composé (a dû), it means the plane had to land AND it actually did. If you used the imparfait (devait), it would just describe the obligation (the plane was supposed to land) but leaves it open as to whether it actually happened or not.
Why does dû have a circumflex accent?
The past participle of devoir gets a circumflex in the masculine singular form (dû) solely to distinguish it from the word du (meaning 'some' or 'of the'). Note that this accent disappears in the feminine and plural forms (due, dus, dues).
Why is finalement placed between a and dû?
Why do we use à before Londres instead of en or dans?