Falloir Conjugation in French: The Complete Guide to Charts, Tenses, and Rules

When learning French, few verbs are as essential—and initially puzzling—as falloir. Ranked among the most frequently used verbs in everyday communication, it conveys necessity, obligation, and need.

However, falloir belongs to a unique category: it is an impersonal defective verb (verbe impersonnel). This means that it only exists in the third-person singular, paired exclusively with the dummy pronoun « il » (equivalent to the impersonal "it" in English, like in "it is raining"). You will never say je faux or nous fallons.

In this comprehensive guide, explore the complete conjugation tables for falloir across all moods and tenses, learn how to build sentences with it, and discover how to avoid standard learner errors.

1. Full Falloir Conjugation Chart

Because falloir only conjugates with il, memorizing its forms is significantly faster than standard third-group verbs. Below are all active tenses.

Indicative Mood (Mode Indicatif)

Conditional Mood (Mode Conditionnel)

Subjunctive Mood (Mode Subjonctif)

Non-Finite Forms

Tense French Form English Equivalent Example Sentence
:--- :--- :--- :---
Présent il faut it is necessary / one must Il faut partir maintenant. (We must leave now.)
Imparfait il fallait it was necessary / one had to Il fallait réserver à l'avance. (One had to book in advance.)
Passé Composé il a fallu it required / it took Il a fallu trois heures pour réparer la panne. (It took three hours to fix the breakdown.)
Futur Simple il faudra it will be necessary / one will have to Il faudra faire attention. (You will have to be careful.)
Passé Simple il fallut it was necessary (literary) Il fallut trouver une solution d'urgence. (A solution had to be found urgently.)
Plus-que-parfait il avait fallu it had been necessary Il avait fallu annuler la visite. (The visit had had to be canceled.)
Futur Antérieur il aura fallu it will have taken / been required Il aura fallu beaucoup de patience. (It will have taken a lot of patience.)
Tense French Form Usage Note
:--- :--- :---
Conditionnel Présent il faudrait Expresses soft recommendations, polite advice: Il faudrait dormir plus. (You should sleep more.)
Conditionnel Passé il aurait fallu Expresses regret or hindsight: Il aurait fallu m'avertir. (You should have warned me.)
Tense French Form Example Sentence
:--- :--- :---
Subjonctif Présent qu'il faille Bien qu'il faille payer un supplément, le service vaut le coup. (Although one must pay extra...)
Subjonctif Passé qu'il ait fallu Je regrette qu'il ait fallu en arriver là. (I regret that it had to come to this.)
  • Infinitive: falloir
  • Past Participle: fallu (strictly invariable)
  • Present Participle: Does not exist in modern standard French
  • Imperative: Does not exist (you cannot give an imperative command directly to falloir)

    • 2. Core Sentence Structures with Falloir

Mastering falloir requires knowing which grammatical structure to use depending on what you want to communicate.

Structure 1: Il faut + Infinitive (General Necessity)

  • Il faut respecter le code de la route. (One must follow the rules of the road.)
  • Il ne faut pas fumer ici. (Smoking is not permitted here / You mustn't smoke here.)

    • Use this pattern to make general statements or rules that apply to everyone.

    Structure 2: Il faut que + Subject + Subjunctive (Targeted Obligation)

  • Il faut que tu viennes à l'heure. (You have to come on time.)
  • Il faudra que nous prenions une décision. (We will need to make a decision.)
  • Il fallait qu'ils sachent la vérité. (They needed to know the truth.)

    • When the obligation applies to a specific person, combine il faut que with a subjunctive clause.

    Structure 3: Il (indirect object pronoun) faut + Noun (Expressing Need)

  • Il me faut un stylo. (I need a pen.)
  • Il lui faudra du temps pour guérir. (He/She will need time to heal.)
  • Combien d'argent vous faut-il ? (How much money do you need?)

    • Insert an indirect object pronoun (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur) before faut to express personal need, acting as a synonym for avoir besoin de.

    3. Falloir vs. Devoir: Key Differences

English speakers frequently confuse falloir and devoir because both translate to "must" or "have to".

  • Devoir is a personal verb fully conjugated across all persons (je dois, tu dois, il doit, nous devons...). It focuses on individual responsibility, duty, or probability (Je dois travailler = I personally have to work).
  • Falloir is impersonal and objective. It highlights the circumstance or unavoidable necessity (Il faut travailler = Work is necessary / One must work).

    • 4. Top Mistakes to Avoid

1. Conjugating for "I" or "We": Never write je faut or nous fallons. If you want a personal subject, use devoir (je dois) or indirect pronouns (il me faut).

2. Using the Indicative after "que": Il faut que is one of the strongest triggers for the subjunctive mood in French. Saying "Il faut que je pars" is incorrect; always say "Il faut que je parte".

3. Adding agreement to fallu: Because il is an impersonal dummy subject, fallu never agrees in gender or number (Les efforts qu'il a fallu — no "s").

By practicing the core forms—il faut, il fallait, il a fallu, il faudra, and il faudrait—you will speak French with much higher accuracy and natural rhythm.