In French, the verb devoir translates to must, have to and need to. The conjugation of devoir in the present tense is: je dois (I must), tu dois (you must), il/elle doit (he/she must), nous devons (we must) vous devez (you must, formal and plural) and ils/elles doivent (they most). This post provide conjugation charts of devoir in five major tenses.
Uses of devoir
Devoir is one of the most useful verbs in the French language. In addition to must, have to and need to, it has several other common usages.
1. Must/have to/need to
When followed by an infinitive, devoir means must, have to and to need to. For example:
- Je dois travailler demain. I have to work tomorrow.
- Vous devez écouter le professeur. You must listen to the teacher.
- Il doit acheter une nouvelle voiture. He needs to buy a new car.
2. Supposed to
The verb devoir can also suggest probability and means “supposed to”. For example:
- Le train doit arriver avant midi. The train is supposed to arrive before noon.
3. To owe
The verb devoir can also mean “to owe”. For example:
- Il me doit vingt euros. He owes me twenty euros.
4. Should, ought to
In the conditional form, devoir translates to “should” or “ought to”. For example:
- Vous devriez étudier le français. You should (ought to) study French.
Devoir conjugation tables
Before we get into the tables with example sentences, let’s have a quick look at the conjugations of devoir in six major tenses.
Devoir conjugation tables with example sentences
In the following section we’ll cover the verb devoir in five main tenses including the present, imperfect, passé composé, future and conditional tenses.
Present tense
In the present tense, je dois translates to I must, have to and need to.
| Je dois | I must/have to | Je dois travailler demain. | I have to work tomorrow |
| Tu dois | You must/has to (singular, informal) | Tu dois acheter la voiture. | You must buy the car. |
| Il/elle doit | He/she must/has to | Il doit vendre la masion. | He has to sell the house. |
| Nous devons | We must/have to | Nous devons rester ici. | We have to stay here. |
| Vous devez | You must/have to (formal, plural) | Vous devez payer l'addition. | You have to pay the bill. |
| Ils/elles doivent | They must/have to | Ils doivent trouver une solution | They must find a solution. |
Passé composé
The passé composé is a commonly used French past tense. The construction J’ai dû + infinitive translates to “I had to” and is used for recounting past events.
| J'ai dû | I had to | J'ai dû poser la quesiton. | I had to ask the question. |
| Tu as dû | You had to (informal singular) | Tu as dû nettoyer la cusine. | You had to clean the kitchen. |
| Il/elle a dû | He/she had to | Il a dû apprendre le chinois. | He had to learn Chinese. |
| Nous avons dû | We had to | Nous avons dû finir la leçon. | We had to finish the lesson. |
| Vous avez dû | You had to (plural, formal) | Vous avez dû partir. | You had to leave. |
| Ils/elles ont dû | They had to | Ils ont dû acheter une télévison. | They had to buy a TV. |
Imperfect
The imperfect (or imparfait) is an other commonly used French past tense. Je devais + infinitive also means “I had to” and is used for describing past situations.
| Je devais | I had to | Je devais me renseigner. | I had to get information. |
| Tu devais | You had to (singular, informal) | Tu devais partir avant nous. | You had to leave before us. |
| Il/elle devait | He/she had to | Elle devait déménager. | She had to move out. |
| Nous devions | We had to | Nous devions trouver un nouvel appartement. | We had to find a new apartment. |
| Vous deviez | You had to (plural, formal) | Vous deviez suivre des cours. | You had to take lessons. |
| Ils/elles devaient | They had to | Ils devaient descendre la montagne. | They had to do down the mountain. |
Future
In the futur simple, a commonly used French future tense, je devrai + infinitive translates to “I will have to”.
| Je devrai | I will have to | Je devrai faire la cuisine. | I will have to cook. |
| Tu devras | You will have to (informal, singular) | Tu devras aller chez le coiffeur. | You will have to go to the hairdresser. |
| Il/elle devra | He/she will have to | Elle devra parler au patron. | She will have to talk to the boss. |
| Nous devrons | We will have to | Nous devrons aller au magasin. | We will have to go to the store. |
| Vous devrez | You will have to (formal, plural) | Vous devrez me téléphoner. | You will have to call me. |
| Ils/elles devront | They will have to | Ils devront apprendre quelques mots. | They will have to learn a few words. |
Conditional
In French, the conditional tense is used to hypothetical “should” situations. Je devrais + infinitive translates to “I should”.
| Je devrais | I should | Je devrais être plus gentil. | I should be kinder. |
| Tu devrais | You should (informal, singular) | Tu devrais travailler plus souvent. | You should work more often. |
| Il/elle devrait | He/she should | Elle devrait apprendre les verbes. | She should learn the verbs. |
| Nous devrions | We should | Nous devrions partir avant midi. | We should leave before noon. |
| Vous devriez | You should (formal, plural) | Vous devriez apprendre le français. | You should learn French. |
| Ils/elles devraient | They should | Ils devraient partir de bonne heure. | They should leave early. |
More conjugation charts with example sentences:
- Être (to be)
- Avoir (to have)
- Aller (to go)
- Faire (to make, to do)
- Parler (to speak)
- Aimer (to like, to love)
