Module 5 of the free French course (CEFR A2 mastery + the B1 bridge), lesson 19 of 30: The duty trio at work: il faut (one must), je dois (I must). 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 19.
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| il faut pratiquer | you have to practice | eel foh prah-tee-KAY |
| pratiquer | to practice | prah-tee-KAY |
| je dois partir | I must leave | zhuh dwah pahr-TEER |
| tu devrais | you should | tew duh-VREH |
| tu devrais lire ce livre | you should read this book | tew duh-vreh leer suh LEEVR |
| important | important | a(n)-por-TAH(n) |
| c'est important | it is important | seh ta(n)-por-TAH(n) |
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.
The duty trio at work: il faut (one must), je dois (I must), tu devrais (you should — the polite advice form met as a chunk).
Pour bien parler français, il faut pratiquer tous les jours. Tu devrais lire ce livre!
tu devrais is one fixed chunk here (you should); its full table arrives in the next band. il faut takes an infinitive: il faut pratiquer, never il faut pratique.
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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