Learn Hardcore French: Je dois prendre ce médicament ce soir.

All three ideas are possible in English. Devoir expresses a clear obligation or necessity, often coming from rules, instructions, or circumstances. In strength, it’s closer to “must/have to.” If you want the softer “should,” use je devrais. A general, impersonal necessity is il faut (e.g., Il faut prendre ce médicament ce soir = it’s necessary to take it tonight).

Could I say J’ai besoin de prendre ce médicament ce soir instead?

Yes, but the nuance changes. Avoir besoin de focuses on a personal need (I need to…), while devoir is more about obligation. For a doctor’s instructions or rules, devoir or il faut is more idiomatic. J’ai besoin de… is fine, just slightly different in feel.

Why is it ce médicament and not cet or cette?

Because médicament is masculine singular and starts with a consonant, so the correct demonstrative is ce. Use:

ce
- masculine consonant: ce médicament
cet
- masculine vowel or mute h: cet antibiotique
cette
- feminine: cette pilule
ces
- plural: ces médicaments

Why not use médecine for “medicine” here?

False friend alert. La médecine is the field of medicine (medical science). A drug/medication is un médicament. Other useful words: un remède (remedy), un traitement (treatment). Avoid drogue here; that means an illicit drug.

Is prendre the right verb for medication? What about liquids?

Yes. The default is prendre un médicament (take medicine). More specific:

Pills/tablets: avaler un comprimé, prendre un cachet/une gélule
Syrup/liquid: boire un sirop But prendre works for all of them and is the safest general verb.

Can I move ce soir to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Common options:

Je dois prendre ce médicament ce soir. (neutral)
Ce soir, je dois prendre ce médicament. (emphasis on tonight)
Je dois ce soir prendre ce médicament. (more formal/written style) All are correct.

If we’ve already mentioned the medicine, how do I use a pronoun?

Replace ce médicament with le and place it before the infinitive:

Je dois le prendre ce soir. In the negative:
Je ne dois pas le prendre ce soir. (Note: ne…pas wraps the conjugated verb dois.)

How do I say “I must not take this medicine tonight” versus “I don’t have to take it”?

Prohibition/strong advice not to: Je ne dois pas prendre ce médicament ce soir. (= mustn’t/shouldn’t)
Lack of obligation: Je n’ai pas besoin de prendre ce médicament ce soir or Je ne suis pas obligé de prendre ce médicament ce soir.
Be careful: ne…pas devoir ≠ “don’t have to”; it usually means “must not.”

Does ce soir mean “this evening” or “tonight”? What about overnight?

Ce soir covers this evening/tonight (later today, typically evening hours). For the overnight period, use cette nuit (e.g., “during the night”). Don’t say ce nuit. For a specific referenced evening in the past/story, use ce soir-là.

Any quick pronunciation tips for this sentence?

Je = roughly “zhuh.”
dois = “dwa” (final s silent).
prendre = “prandr,” with a nasal vowel in -en-; the final -re is not fully pronounced.
médicament = “may-dee-kah-mahn,” with nasal -ment at the end.
soir = “swahr” (oi → wa).
Speak the words smoothly; there are no required liaisons here.

How is devoir conjugated, and what about other tenses like “will have to” or “had to”?

Present (common forms): je dois, tu dois, il/elle doit, nous devons, vous devez, ils/elles doivent.

Future (will have to): je devrai
Conditional (should/ought to): je devrais
Passé composé (had to): j’ai dû (note the circumflex: dû)

Why use the present Je dois for something happening later today?

French often uses the present with a time expression to refer to the near future or scheduled obligations. Je dois… ce soir is natural. Je devrai… ce soir is also correct but highlights the future obligation itself.

Is there a good alternative using il faut?

Yes: Il faut que je prenne ce médicament ce soir. That’s an impersonal necessity using the subjunctive prenne. It’s common and roughly equivalent in meaning to Je dois…, though devoir feels more personal.

How do I ask, “Do I have to take this medicine tonight?”

Options:

Est-ce que je dois prendre ce médicament ce soir ? (most neutral)
Dois-je prendre ce médicament ce soir ? (formal/inversion)
Je dois prendre ce médicament ce soir ? (casual, rising intonation)

How would I say “I have to take some medicine tonight” or “my medicine”?

“Some medicine”: Je dois prendre des médicaments ce soir. (plural, unspecified)
“My medicine”: Je dois prendre mon médicament ce soir. (a specific one that’s mine)