Modal
verbs in French
Preamble:
Defining modal verbs:
A modal verb is a verb that qualifies an action
with regard to its desirability, its necessity, its possibility or its
futurity.
While this is a clear and concise definition, it
is an unsatisfactory definition which does not even fully
account for all modal verbs in English. As far as French linguistics
are concerned, it is often said that French does not have modal verbs.
Whether or not this is the case is a matter
of theory, not scientific fact, and will always be a good
subject for academic argument among linguists; but for the purposes of
this grammar, we will consider that French does have modal verbs.
Comparing
modal verbs in English and French
French has less modal verbs than English.
While English has will,
shall, may, might, must, ought to, have to, can and be able to,
French just has three modal verbs: vouloir,
pouvoir, devoir
to which can be added certain uses of savoir.
However these verbs have tenses which
can modify their modality.
French does not use modal verbs to denote futurity, as this is done by
means of the future
tense and other mechanisms.
1. Vouloir -
Vouloir
is a modal verb expressing
wish, desire or intention.
Here are its main usages:
►
In the present
tense it implies a definite wish (Examples 1 & 2)
►
In the present perfect
it can imply an unfulfilled/ wrongly fulfilled
wish,(Examples 3 & 4) or a fulfilled wish (Example 5)
► In the
conditional
it implies a hope or a potential wish. (Examples 6 - 8)
Click here For a full verb table of vouloir (coming)
Present
tense:
Singular:
Je veux, tu veux, il/elle... veut
Plural: Nous
voulons, vous voulez, ils veulent
Examples:
1. Je veux partir maintenant.
I want to leave now
2.
Le capitaine veut savoir s'il y a un médecin à bord
The
captain wants to know if there's a doctor on board.
3. J'ai voulu ouvrir la boîte,
mais je l'ai cassée.
I wanted
to open the box, but I broke it .
4.
Il semble qu'il a voulu sortir par la cheminée.
It looks
as if he wanted to (was trying to) get out through the chimney.
5. J'ai voulu
te faire une surprise !!.
I wanted it to be a surprise for you !!.
6. Nous
voudrions partir avant minuit.
We'd like to leave before midnight. 7. Il
voudrait savoir qui vous êtes.
He'd like to know
who you are.
8. Je
pensais que vous voudriez aller au concert ce soir
I thought
you'd want to go to the concert this evening.
2. Pouvoir
Pouvoir
is the modal of ability, corresponding to the English can or be able to.
Here are its most common usages.
► In
the present
tense it implies a definite or potential ability (Examples 1 & 2)
►
In the present perfect
it normally implies a successfully accomplished action, and
has the sense of the English " managed
to" (Examples 3 & 4)
► In the imperfect it usually
implies past ability (Examples 5 & 6)
!!
Take care with the distinction in usage between the
perfect and imperfect tenses of pouvoir
►
In
the conditional
it implies
potential future possibility. (Examples 7 & 8)
►
In the future perfect, it
expresses past action that may have occurred or has probably occurred (Examples 9 & 10)
► In
the past conditional,
it expresses unfulfilled hypothetical possibility (Examples 11 & 12)
Reflexive use of pouvoir
:
► The
English modal verb may
is often expressed using the French expression
Il
se peut que ..... followed by a subjunctive. (Examples 13 & 14)
Click here For a full verb table of pouvoir (coming)
Present
tense:
Singular:
Je peux or je puis, tu peux, il/elle... peut
Plural: Nous
pouvons, vous pouvez, ils peuvent
Examples:
1. Tu ne peux pas fumer ici.
You can't smoke here.
2.
Nous pouvons aller au concert ce soir.
We can go
to the concert this evening.
3. J'ai pu (=success) ouvrir la boîte, mais je l'ai
cassée.
I was
able to open the box , but I broke it .
4.
Il semble qu'il a pu sortir par la cheminée.
It looks
as if he was able to get out through the chimney.
5. Dans ma
jeunesse je pouvais (= ability) porter 50
kg. !!.
In my youth I could carry 50 kilograms !!.
6. Les
policiers ne pouvaient pas faire comme ils voulaient
The policement were not able to do as
they pleased.
7. Il
pourrait parler anglais s'il faisait un effort.
He could speak
English if he tried.
8. Nous
pourrions aller au concert ce soir
We could
to go to the concert this evening.
9. Il
aura pu se mettre à l'abri quelque part.
He may have found
shelter somewhere.
10. Il
aura pu se mettre à l'abri quelque part. (second meaning)
He will
have been able to find shelter somewhere.
11. Il
aurait pu être bloqué par la grève à l'aeroport.
H could have been
blocked by the strike at the airport.
12. Vous
auriez pu vous tuer !!
You could
have killed yourselves !!
13. Il
se peut qu'ils soient bloqués par la grève à l'aeroport.
They may be blocked
by the strike at the airport.
14. Il
se peut qu'on aille au concert ce soir.
We may
go to the concert this evening.
Sometimes
French uses savoir instead of pouvoir to express acquired ability
Example:
1. Mon frère sait parler quatre
langues.
My brother can speak four languages.
3. Devoir
Devoir
is the modal of obligation, corresponding to the English must, have to, should or
ought
to. The
specific meaning is specified by a combination of tense and context.
► In
the present
tense, devoir
corresponds to the English must / have to in
most of their meanings; both formal obligation (e.g. You must stop that)
and probablilty (It
must be ten midnight by now). See examples 1 & 2
below
The most confusing points about uses
of devoir
concern past tenses.
► The
perfect
or composite past of devoir
( e.g.
il a dû) has two quite different meanings, corresponding
either to had
to or to must have.
See
examples 3 & 4 below. Logic and context will
usually remove any possible ambiguity; for
instance, it is very unlikely that Hier
j'ai dû acheter un parapluie
would mean Yesterday I
must have bought an umbrella - unless the
speaker is amnesic.
► The
imperfect
tense of devoir (e.g.
il devait) has three possible meanings; it can
be used in the sense of had to,
or less commonly in the sense of must have.
Occasionally it used as a shorter alternative to the past
conditional in the sense of ought to have
See
examples 5 & 6 below
► Used in conditional tenses, devoir implies recommendation or partial
obligation, and has the meaning of should /
ought to. See examples 7 & 8
below.
►Spelling
point: the past participle masculine (the normal form)
of devoir is spelt dû,
with a circumflex accent. The feminine form (when needed) is spelt with
no circumflex, e.g. due.
Click
here For a full verb table of devoir (coming)
Present
tense:
Singular:
Je dois, tu dois, il/elle... doit
Plural: Nous
devons, vous devez, ils doivent
Examples:
1. Vous devez arrêter le
moteur maintenant.
You must stop the engine now.
2. Il fait nuit noire! Il doit
être au moins minuit.
It's pitch dark; it must be at
least midnight by now.
3. Il n'y a aucun
bruit, il a dû arrêter le moteur maintenant .
or: .... il doit avoir arrêté le moteur
maintenant
There's no noise; he must have stopped
the engine now.
4. Il y avait une fuite d'huile,
donc il a dû arrêter le moteur.
There was an oil leak, so he had to stop
the engine.
5. Nous devions être à
Paris pour une réunion samedi dernier.
We had to be in Paris for a meeting last
Saturday. or
We must have been in Paris for a meeting
last Saturday,
6. Nous devions être à
Paris pour une réunion , mais nous n'y étions pas.
or: .... Nous aurions dû être à Paris
......
We should have been in Paris for a
meeting , but we weren't
7. Si vous avez tout
bien appris, vous ne devriez pas avoir de problème.
If you've learned it all well, you
shouldn't have any problem.
8. Nous aurions dû
prendre un parapluie.
We ought to have brought an umbrella.
Reminder: Context and logic are normally sufficient to clarify which
of
different meanings of devoir is implied, when more than one
interpretation is possible .
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