Module 4 of the free French course (CEFR A2, completed), lesson 14 of 30: Il faut + infinitive says what must be done: Il faut manger des légumes. On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 14.
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| il faut | you have to / one must | eel FOH |
| il faut manger des légumes | you have to eat vegetables | eel foh mah(n)-zhay day lay-GEWM |
| il ne faut pas | you must not | eel nuh foh PAH |
| courir | to run | koo-REER |
| je peux | I can / I may | zhuh PUH |
| je veux | I want | zhuh VUH |
| je dois | I must | zhuh DWAH |
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
Il faut + infinitive says what must be done: Il faut manger des légumes. Il faut finir tes devoirs. Il ne faut pas courir ici.
One fixed little phrase, endless daily use — rules, recipes, plans.
il faut has no je form: il faut manger is 'one must eat', for everybody. And il ne faut pas is a ban (you must not), not 'it is not needed'.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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