# Devoir Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “Must”

> **Devoir** means “must” or “to have to”, and also “to owe”. Présent: **je dois, tu dois, il doit, nous devons, vous devez, ils doivent**. Its past participle is **dû** — with a circumflex, and only in that one form: the feminine is *due*, the plural *dus*.

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Updated: 2026-09-16

## Présent — doi- and dev-

The familiar boot: doi- in the singular and for ils, dev- for nous and vous. The ils form doubles the v — doivent — which makes it audible against the silent singular endings.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je dois | I must |
| tu dois | you must |
| il / elle doit | he / she must |
| nous devons | we must |
| vous devez | you must |
| ils / elles doivent | they must |

**Obligation or debt?** — Look at what comes next. Je dois + infinitive = I must. Je dois + a noun or an amount = I owe. Je dois travailler, I have to work. Je dois de l’argent, I owe money. There is no ambiguity in practice, which is why French never bothered to split them.

## Je dois or il faut?

Both translate as “must”, and beginners are usually taught il faut first because it never conjugates. The difference is who the obligation belongs to.

| French | Means | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| je dois partir | I have to leave | personal — it’s my obligation |
| il faut partir | we/one must leave | impersonal — it’s just necessary |
| il faut que je parte | I must leave | impersonal, aimed at me — needs the subjonctif |

Il faut is blunter and more universal; devoir attaches the duty to a person. If you want to say you specifically have to do something, devoir is the cleaner choice — and it spares you the subjunctive.

## Passé composé — the circumflex

The participle is dû, and that hat is doing a real job: it separates the participle from du, the contraction of de + le, which is one of the most common words in the language.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ai dû | I had to / must have |
| tu as dû | you had to / must have |
| il / elle a dû | he / she had to / must have |
| nous avons dû | we had to / must have |
| vous avez dû | you had to / must have |
| ils / elles ont dû | they had to / must have |

**⚠ The circumflex only survives in one form** — Masculine singular takes it: dû. The moment anything is added, it goes — feminine due, plural dus, feminine plural dues. The reason is that the ambiguity it existed to prevent no longer exists once there is an extra letter.

**“Must have” is the passé composé** — Il a dû partir is genuinely ambiguous in French too: it can be “he had to leave” or “he must have left”. Context decides, exactly as in English.

## Imparfait — was supposed to

Regular from dev-. Worth knowing for one specific use: je devais le voir hier means “I was supposed to see him yesterday” — with the strong implication that it did not happen.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je devais | I had to / was supposed to |
| tu devais | you had to / was supposed to |
| il / elle devait | he / she had to / was supposed to |
| nous devions | we had to / was supposed to |
| vous deviez | you had to / was supposed to |
| ils / elles devaient | they had to / was supposed to |

## Futur and conditionnel — devr-

The stem loses the oi and keeps a single r: devr-. Je devrai, “I will have to”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je devrai | I will have to |
| tu devras | you will have to |
| il / elle devra | he / she will have to |
| nous devrons | we will have to |
| vous devrez | you will have to |
| ils / elles devront | they will have to |

## Conditionnel — ought to

This is where devoir earns its keep a second time. The conditionnel is how French says “should” and “ought to”: tu devrais dormir, “you should sleep”. There is no separate verb for it — advice is simply devoir in the conditionnel.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je devrais | I would have to |
| tu devrais | you would have to |
| il / elle devrait | he / she would have to |
| nous devrions | we would have to |
| vous devriez | you would have to |
| ils / elles devraient | they would have to |

**⚠ je devrai and je devrais** — One letter, two meanings, near-identical sound. Je devrai (no s) is “I will have to”. Je devrais (with s) is “I should”. Native speakers mix these up in writing constantly.

## Subjonctif — doive

The boot pattern once more, on doiv-. You will meet it less often than the others here, because obligation tends to be stated rather than doubted.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je doive | (that) I have to |
| tu doives | (that) you have to |
| il / elle doive | (that) he / she have to |
| nous devions | (that) we have to |
| vous deviez | (that) you have to |
| ils / elles doivent | (that) they have to |

## Impératif and plus-que-parfait

The imperative exists on paper and is essentially never used — ordering somebody to have to do something is as odd in French as it is in English.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| dois ! | have to! (to one person you know) |
| devons ! | let’s have to! |
| devez ! | have to! (formal, or to a group) |

## Plus-que-parfait — had had to

J’avais dû. The circumflex survives here too, because it is still the bare masculine singular.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’avais dû | I had had to |
| tu avais dû | you had had to |
| il / elle avait dû | he / she had had to |
| nous avions dû | we had had to |
| vous aviez dû | you had had to |
| ils / elles avaient dû | they had had to |

## FAQ

### How do you conjugate devoir in the present tense?

Je dois, tu dois, il / elle doit, nous devons, vous devez, ils / elles doivent.

### What is the past participle of devoir?

Dû, with a circumflex — but only in the masculine singular. It becomes due, dus and dues when it agrees, and loses the hat each time.

### Why does dû have a circumflex?

To tell it apart from du, the contraction of de + le. Once an agreement ending is added there is no longer any confusion, so the accent is dropped.

### What is the difference between je dois and il faut?

Je dois attaches the obligation to a person — “I have to”. Il faut is impersonal — “it is necessary”. To aim il faut at somebody you need the subjunctive: il faut que je parte.

### How do you say “should” in French?

With devoir in the conditionnel: tu devrais, “you should”. French has no separate verb for it.

### Does devoir mean “to owe”?

Yes, and it is the same verb with the same forms. An infinitive after it means obligation (je dois partir); a noun after it means debt (je te dois dix euros).

## Related guides

- Pouvoir conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/pouvoir-conjugation
- Vouloir conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/vouloir-conjugation
- French verb conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-verb-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides