Look at these examples of devoir in the Conditionnel passé:
- in English you use the past participle form of the verb (locked, listened, eaten)
- in French we use the Conditionnel passé of devoir + the verb infinitive (fermer, écouter, manger)
See other lessons on Le Conditionnel Passé:
Conjugate regular -er, -ir, -dre verbs (+ avoir) in Le Conditionnel Passé (past conditional)
Conjugate verbs (+ être) in Le Conditionnel Passé (past conditional)
Conjugate verbs with irregular past participles in Le Conditionnel Passé (past conditional)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Ils auraient dû prendre le bus à la place.
They should have taken the bus instead.
Tu aurais dû fermer la porte à clé.
You should have locked the door.
Vous auriez dû la prévenir.
You should have warned her.
Elle aurait dû freiner plus tôt.
She should have braked earlier.
J'aurais dû manger plus tôt.
I should have eaten earlier.
Nous n'aurions pas dû l'écouter.
We shouldn't have listened to him.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
24/01/18
"devoir" in the imparfait? Et voilà:
je devais,
tu devais,
il/elle/on devait,
nous devions,
vous deviez,
ils/elles devaient.
And since I am not entirely clear on what you mean by "how to we use devoir in the imparfait", here is an example:
I must clean my room. -- Je dois ranger ma chambre. (present tense)
I should clean my room. -- Je devrais ranger ma chambre. (conditionel présent)
I should have cleaned my room. -- J'aurais dû ranger ma chambre. (conditionel passé)
If that doesn't address your actual question, could you rephrase it again, please, because I am not sure I quite understand what you are asking.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
24/01/18
I think I understand what you're asking here.
The verb devoir in L'Imparfait will usually be translated as "I had to" or "I was supposed to", as such:
I was supposed to call him, but I didn't have time.
Il devait absolument le faire ce jour-là.
He absolutely had to do it that day.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Thomas
Kwiziq community member
25/07/18
Hi Aurélie,
The other day I found myself trying to say (verbally), by starting off 'Je devrais..', e.g. "I should do..", and stalling, having wanted to turn it into "I should have done" - I was probably doing along the lines of what the 6 May 2018 poster was thinking ('I must have had to..' rather than 'I would have had..').I think this lesson and your above response explains it.
To get the stupid question out of the way, there's no way 'Je devrais avoir eu' makes any sense, is there? (I'm guessing I was trying to construct the conditional past by combining conditional present and pluperfect).
Thanks!
Tom
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
25/07/18
Bonjour Tom !
This is definitely not the colloquial way to express Le Conditionnel Passé in French :)
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
18/07/17
No. The subjunctive is required after certain verbs, conjunctions, and expressions. It's never interchangeable with the conditionnel passé.
Ron
Kwiziq community member
19/06/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
19/06/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
19/06/17
To express "must have + past participle" as in "must have done"..., you will use Le Passé Composé of "devoir" = "a dû + infinitive"
"Ça a dû coûter cher." (It must have cost a lot)
"Il a dû se sentir mal à l'aise. (He must have felt uneasy.)
See:
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/conjugate-voir-boire-croire-savoir-lire-taire-avoir-in-le-passe-compose-conversational-past
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Neil
Kwiziq community member
19/06/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/04/17
Here it's about colloquialism in both languages.
You are correct that the "le" in French means "it/that" here, but in English you tend not to express it, whereas in French it's always necessary to add it:
I'm glad you told me [it].
Je suis contente que tu me *l'*ai dit.
I'll add [it] to the question to remove any ambiguity :)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Meghna
Kwiziq community member
10/04/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/03/17
No, they're not interchangeable, as the second form is used only in very formal writing, and is extremely rare nowadays.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
8/02/17
To express "must have", you will conjugate the verb "devoir" in Le Passé Composé followed by your verb's infinitive:
"Elle a dû aller faire les courses." (She must have gone to the shops.)
"J'ai dû me tromper." (I must have made a mistake.)
Here's a link to Le Passé Composé of "devoir":
https://french.kwiziq.com/my-languages/french/view/4612
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Jennifer
Kwiziq community member
9/02/17
Mercii Aurélie.
Would you also help me out with ought to? what would we say for example for he/ought/should have done their homework. I ask this because I now realise that the difference between ought, should and must have are becoming difficult for me to destinguish.
Thank you once again
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/02/17
with "devoir" in Le Conditionnel.
:)
Jennifer
Kwiziq community member
15/02/17
Kevin
Kwiziq community member
21 September 2016
1 reply
Great lesson--thank you. Don't know how I missed knowing this!
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
21/09/16
CrystalMaiden
Kwiziq community member
6 May 2018
1 reply
So French doesn't have " should have, " it has " I've had to + verb. "
Maybe this should be mentioned in the lesson, because once you read the French sentences as " I've had to " etc, it makes it a lot easier.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
17 May 2018
17/05/18
Actually in French, it's "I would have had to + verb" = j'aurais dû + verbe