french

G: Falloir
falloir - to be necessary
il faut - it is necessary
il a fallu - it was necessary (passé composé)
il fallait - it was necessary (imparfait)
il faudra - it will be necessary
il faudrait - it would be necessary
The verb falloir differs from similar verbs such as avoir besoin de [faire quelque chose] (to need [to do
something]) and devoir (must, duty, owe). Falloir is always used with the impersonal il only in the 3rd
person singular, whereas devoir can be used with all subject pronouns in all tenses.
Falloir expresses general necessities, such as "To live, one must eat" or "To speak French well, one must
conjugate verbs correctly."
Devoir expresses more personally what someone must do; "I want to pass my French test, so I must study
verb conjugations."
Avoir besoin de [faire quelque chose] expresses need; "I need to study for my test, it's tomorrow" - "J'ai
besoin d'etudier pour mon examen, il est demain."