Il faut - must or need?

Question

"Il te faut de l'aide."I'm struggling to understand why this is "you need help" rather than "you must help". I understand that Il faut can express a need but also a must - but I'm quite confused on how I can tell!

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Clara,
If you take another look at the lesson and, in particular, section 2, you will see that by adding the pronoun 'te', the idea of need is conveyed.

Il me faut de l'aide = I need help
Il te faut de l'aide = You need help
il lui faut de l'aide = She/He needs help
Il nous faut de l'aide = We need help
Il vous faut de l'aide = You need help
Il leur faut de l'aide = They need help

Hope this helps!