133 - How to Conjugate ‘Devoir’ (To Have To) in French [Future Tense]

 
 

Confused about conjugating ‘devoir’ (to have to) in the future tense? In this episode, I’ll break down the future tense conjugation of ‘devoir’ (to have to).

After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library to practice!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!

Hello everyone, bonjour à tous! 🧡 Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode number 133, numéro 133!

We haven’t done any conjugation in ages, so it’s time to get back into it! We're continuing our series on French verbs conjugated in the future tense, and today we're focusing on the verb "devoir".

"Devoir" means "to have to" in English. If you're not yet familiar with the verb "devoir" in the present tense, I suggest you go back and listen to episode number 38 first. It's really important to understand the present tense before studying the future tense.

As always, if this is your first time on the podcast, welcome, make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet ready so you can follow along. After finishing the lesson, you can head over to the French Made Easy library to download your lesson’s exercises and practice what you learned today. It's all free and you can find all the links in the episode notes on your podcast platform.

Now, let's dive into the simple future tense of "devoir". Repeat after me:

  • je devrai (I will have to)

  • tu devras (you will have to)

  • il devra (he will have to)

  • elle devra (she will have to)

  • on devra (we will have to)

  • nous devrons (we will have to)

  • vous devrez (you will have to, plural or singular formal)

  • ils devront (they, masculine, will have to)

  • elles devront (they, feminine, will have to)

Excellent. Now let's see some examples of "devoir" in the future tense into some sentences:

  • Après le travail, je devrai appeler ma grand-mère pour son anniversaire. (After work, I will have to call my grandmother for her birthday.)

  • Tu devras faire tes devoirs avant d’aller jouer. 📚 (You will have to do your homework before going to play.) 📚

  • Il devra choisir entre ces deux offres d'emploi. 💼 (He will have to choose between these two job offers.)

  • Elle devra étudier davantage si elle veut réussir son examen. 📚 (She will have to study more if she wants to pass her exam.)

  • On devra réserver les billets à l'avance. 🎟️ (We will have to book the tickets in advance.)

  • Nous devrons nous lever tôt pour le vol de demain. ✈️ (We will have to get up early for tomorrow’s flight.)

  • Vous devrez remplir tous les documents avant votre rendez-vous. 📄 (You will have to fill out all the documents before your appointment.)

  • Ils devront décider avant la fin de la journée. ⏳ (They will have to decide before the end of the day.)

  • Elles devront attendre la prochaine saison pour voir la suite de leur série préférée. 📺 (They will have to wait until the next season to see the continuation of their favorite series.)

Before we finish this episode, let's review the conjugation quickly:

  • je devrai

  • tu devras

  • il devra

  • elle devra

  • on devra

  • nous devrons

  • vous devrez

  • ils devront

  • elles devront

And that's it for today! I hope this little conjugation lesson was helpful. Don't forget to go to the FME Exercise Library for more practice. The link is in the episode notes. I'll talk to you in the next episode. À bientôt! 💖

Mathilde KienComment