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  • The way I understand devoir, it can mean inevitability in the imparfait such as Il eva it perdre un jour. in the test question, the answer for she had

The way I understand devoir, it can mean inevitability in the imparfait such as Il eva it perdre un jour. in the test question, the answer for she had

Ann H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

The way I understand devoir, it can mean inevitability in the imparfait such as Il eva it perdre un jour. in the test question, the answer for she had

to replace him was "Elle a dû" vs if it was inevitable, shouldn't "Elle devait" be correct as well?

This question relates to:French lesson "Using "devoir" in the imperfect tense versus the compound past in French (L'Imparfait vs Le Passé Composé)"
Asked 5 years ago
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Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Elle a dû le remplacer. -- She had to replace him.Elle devait le remplacer. -- She was supposed to replace him.

Like25 years ago
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Ann H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

From the thought co: You can also use devoir to express fatalism or the fact that something is inevitable:

Il devait perdre un jour. > He had to / was bound to lose one day. Elle ne devait pas l'entendre avant lundi. > She wasn't to hear it until Monday.
Like15 years ago
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Ann H. asked:

The way I understand devoir, it can mean inevitability in the imparfait such as Il eva it perdre un jour. in the test question, the answer for she had

to replace him was "Elle a dû" vs if it was inevitable, shouldn't "Elle devait" be correct as well?

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