Inherited fromOld Frenchfaloir, from an earlierfalleir, from a changing of Old Frenchfaillir after its third person singular,faut, earlierfalt (from Latinfallit), based off the model ofvaloir.Faillir derives in turn fromVulgar Latin*fallīre, fromLatinfallere,fallō. Compare Franco-Provençalfalêr from a similar development in Old Franco-Provençal.
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falloir (defective)
This verb is defective, only conjugated in the third-person singular.This verb is impersonal and is conjugated only in the third-person singular.
| infinitive | simple | falloir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle orgerund1 | simple | fallant /fa.lɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | fallu /fa.ly/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | — | — | faut /fo/ | — | — | — |
| imperfect | — | — | fallait /fa.lɛ/ | — | — | — | |
| past historic2 | — | — | fallut /fa.ly/ | — | — | — | |
| future | — | — | faudra /fo.dʁa/ | — | — | — | |
| conditional | — | — | faudrait /fo.dʁɛ/ | — | — | — | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative ofavoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | — | — | faille /faj/ | — | — | — |
| imperfect2 | — | — | fallût /fa.ly/ | — | — | — | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive ofavoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative ofavoir + past participle | — | simple imperative ofavoir + past participle | simple imperative ofavoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the prepositionen. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995],Master the Basics: French, pp.77,78,79,81). | |||||||
This verb is defective, only conjugated in the third-person singular.This verb is impersonal and is conjugated only in the third-person singular.
| infinitive | simple | s'en falloir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | s'en être + past participle | ||||||
| present participle orgerund1 | simple | s'enfallant /sɑ̃ fa.lɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | s'enétant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | fallu /fa.ly/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | — | — | s'enfaut /sɑ̃ fo/ | — | — | — |
| imperfect | — | — | s'enfallait /sɑ̃ fa.lɛ/ | — | — | — | |
| past historic2 | — | — | s'enfallut /sɑ̃ fa.ly/ | — | — | — | |
| future | — | — | s'enfaudra /sɑ̃ fo.dʁa/ | — | — | — | |
| conditional | — | — | s'enfaudrait /sɑ̃ fo.dʁɛ/ | — | — | — | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative ofs'en être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative ofs'en être + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic ofs'en être + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future ofs'en être + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional ofs'en être + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | — | — | s'enfaille /sɑ̃ faj/ | — | — | — |
| imperfect2 | — | — | s'enfallût /sɑ̃ fa.ly/ | — | — | — | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive ofs'en être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive ofs'en être + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative ofs'en être + past participle | — | simple imperative ofs'en être + past participle | simple imperative ofs'en être + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the prepositionen. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995],Master the Basics: French, pp.77,78,79,81). | |||||||