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How to say words like “can,” “might,” “should,” “would,” and “must,” in French?

By: Céline Bateman-Paris Fri Aug 30 2024
French
Verbs, Modal

To translate English words like “can,” “might,” “should,” “would,” “must,” into French, you will need to use French modal verbs in the appropriate tense, impersonal expressions, or French adverbs. Modal verbs indicate whether an action is likely to happen (may, might, could, will) or is supposed to happen (should, ought to, must), and more, depending on the tense they are conjugated in. The modal verbs in French are vouloir(to want), pouvoir(can), savoir(to know), devoir(must), and falloir(need).

In this article, we will cover how we can use modals, adverbs, and impersonal expressions in French to express doubt, obligation, advice, as well as how to use the English short answers “do,” “did,” “will,” and “would” in French!

Table of Contents

    How to express doubt, obligation, and advice with French verbs?

    Expressing levels of doubt, obligation, and advice in French is a little different from English, because you will have to use the appropriate tenses or adverbs. While sometimes you can easily translate ideas from English to French, with modals, you’ll really need to distance yourself from English and understand how French people think! You will see in this article that you can sometimes be more accurate in English when expressing doubt, possibility, obligation, or necessity. You will also learn that some English expressions have no equivalent in French. Feeling puzzled? Let’s get into it! We’ll start by looking at how to express doubt, possibility, and certainty.

    How to express doubt, possibility, and certainty in French?

    In French, you can use the modal verb pouvoir in different tenses and moods, the impersonal expression il se peut que(it is possible that) + subjunctive in French, or an adverb. In English, when you want to express a possibility, you have a choice between “can, could, may, might” and “will.” Depending on which of these modals you choose, the action is more or less likely to happen. In the table below, you can see how to express each of these English modals in French, depending on the likeliness.

    Likelihood
    English Term
    Tense in French
    Adverb
    Impersonal Phrase
    Unlikely

    might, may, could:

    • I might come.

    • I may come.

    • I could come.

    peut-être

    maybe

    Il se peut que+ French present subjunctive

    (it’s possible that…)

    Je pourrais venir.

    Je viendrai peut-être.

    Il se peut que je vienne.

    Probable

    can:

    • I can come.

    peut-être

    maybe

    Il est possible que+ subjunctive

    (it’s possible that…)

    Je peux venir.

    Peut-être que je viens.

    Il est possible que je vienne.

    Very Likely

    will:

    • I will come.

    certainement

    certainly

    sans aucun doute

    undoubtedly

    Il est fort probable que+ future

    (it’s likely that…)

    Je viendrai.

    Je vais venir.

    Je viendrai certainement.

    Je viendrai sans aucun doute.

    Il est fort probable que je viendrai.

    Translation

    As you can see, the expression of probability is more subtle in English than in French!

    Important
    • To express doubts, “can’t” sometimes has no equivalent in French and the action verb will suffice.

      Ce n’est pas vrai!

      That can’t be true!

      See? You don’t always need pouvoir to express “can.”

      You could emphasize the sentence with Ce n’est pas possible.

    • To express a suspicion or a theory, “must” is expressed with devoir.

      Ils ne sont pas là, ils ont dû se perdre.

      They are not here, they must be lost.

      Here, devoir doesn’t express an obligation.
    Tip

    In French, you can use some phrases to emphasize a statement.

    Non mais and mais(but) at the beginning of a sentence or ou quoi(or what) at the end do the trick!

    Mais tu n'es pas sérieux!

    You can’t be serious!

    Non mais tu rigoles ou quoi?!

    You must be joking!

    How to express obligation and necessity in French?

    The English verbs of obligation and necessity “must,” “ought to,” and “should'' can be translated with the versatile verb devoir in French. Depending on the tense you opt for, you’ll sound more or less bossy! If you feel comfortable with the subjunctive in French, you can also use the impersonal expression il il faut que, from the verb falloir. Like above, the following table will show you how to express obligation and necessity in French with modal verbs or impersonal expressions on a range of kind to bossy demands.

    Type of demand
    English translation
    Tense in French
    Impersonal phrase
    Kind demands

    should, ought to, need to:

    • You should go.

    • You ought to go.

    • You need to go.

    Conditional present of devoir:

    Il faudrait que+ subjunctive (would have to...):

    Tu devrais partir.

    Il faudrait que tu partes.

    Bossy demands

    must:
    You must go.

    Conditional present of devoir:

    Il faudrait que+ subjunctive (must need, have to...):

    Tu devrais partir.

    Il faut que tu partes.

    → What about “You should have said it earlier!”? Check out our resource to discover examples of these French modals in the past tense!

    How to offer advice in French?

    To offer advice, you’ll need to know how to express “should” or “could” in French when giving advice or suggestions. Most of the time, the present conditional of devoir will be a good equivalent for “should” and the present conditional of pouvoir for “could.”

    Tu devrais t’inscrire à un club de randonnée.

    You should join a hiking club.

    Tu pourrais apprendre une langue.

    You could learn a language.

    As an alternative to these two, you could use pourquoi pas(why not)+ infinitive

    Pourquoi pas emménager ensemble?

    You should move in together.

    Pourquoi pas is not as precise, as it does not apply to someone in particular.

    Again, if you know how to use the subjunctive, you could also go for some expressions which require the use of the subjunctive:

    • Ce serait bien que

      It would be good...

      + subjunctive

      Ce serait sympa qu’on y aille ensemble.

      It would be nice to go together.

    • Il faudrait que

      You should…

      + subjunctive

      Il faudrait qu’ils se lèvent plus tôt.

      They should get up earlier.

    • Il vaudrait mieux que

      It would be better…

      + subjunctive

      Il vaudrait mieux que vous partiez le 15.

      You should leave on the 15th.

    • Ça vaudrait la peine que

      It would be worth…

      + subjunctive

      Ça vaudrait la peine qu’on le fasse.

      We should do it.

    TipWhat about the negation by the way?!

    Just like for any other verb, the French negation works the same way: ne precedes the verb and pas follows.

    Il ne faut pas toucher les tableaux.

    One must not touch the paintings.

    Je ne peux pas y aller.

    I can't go.

    What’s the French equivalent for the short answers “do,” “did,” “will,” “would?”

    There is no direct equivalent to the short English answers “do,” “did,” “will,” and “would,” so you will often have to use or repeat a modal verb. My students are sometimes puzzled when they want to translate English expressions that don’t have an equivalent in French. Although “should” can be translated with devoir in the conditional present tense, “did,” “will,” and “would” is trickier.

    Let’s examine “I would!” Out of context, it would be impossible to translate into French. And even in context, you can not be as concise as in English. This is when you start thinking in French! Let’s play with this! Imagine the following conversation:

    • Do you think I should tell her?

    • I would.

    • I will, then

    Are you ready?! In French:

    • Tu penses que je devrais lui en parler ?

    • Moi, je lui en parlerais.

      Use the verb (in the previous question) in the conditional present.
    • Je lui en parlerai alors.

      Use the same verb in the future tense.
    Exception!

    When you use “I would” to talk about something you used to do, you’ll need imperfect in French:

    Quand j’étais étudiante, j'allais souvent à la bibliothèque.

    When I was a student, I would go to the library.

    Let’s try this with “did” and “will.” A common mistake is to use faire to translate “did.” Remember, “did” only indicates that the action is in the past; “did” is semantically empty (meaning the following verb is being omitted and is just implied). Imagine this new conversation:

    • I called her.

    • You did or you will?

    • I did.

    But, in French, this cannot happen:

    • Je l’ai appelée.

    • Tu l’as appelée ou tu vas l’appeler ?

    • Je l’ai appelée.

    The French passé composé is used! As you can see, it can be quite lengthy in French, but there is no way around it.
    Tip

    Do you know what French speakers say when they get married? “Je le veux !”(I do![lit.] I want it!) because the question starts with voulez-vous…(do you want...). Or, some people just say Oui !(Yes!)!

    You are all set! Look below for a review of the most important points

    In a nutshell

    When you want to express some kind of doubt, obligation, or advice in French, there’s a few things you may want to keep in mind:

    • Some English modals can be translated into French with verbs followed by an infinitive. (“I must” = je dois, “I ought to, should” = je devrais, “I might, I may, I could” = je pourrais)

    • Adverbs are a great alternative to express probability and doubt. Peut-être (pas) is a very useful one!

    • Impersonal phrases followed by the subjunctive like Il faut que(<=> necessity) or Il se peut que (<=> possibility) are another alternative for modals.

    • “I will, I would, I did, I do” does not have an equivalent in French. You need a verb conjugated in the appropriate tenses. Depending on the context, oui or non may be enough.

    • “Would” is a tricky modal to translate into French. Depending on the context, you’ll have the present conditional ("I would go" = J’irais) or the imperfect (“I would study” = J’étudiais).

    Now it is time to practice! Here are some activities to practice expressing doubt, obligation, and advice in French!

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