Devoir: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Devoir means “to must, to owe”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for devoir, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with devoir, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je dois partir tôt demain tous les jours.” — “I must leave early tomorrow every day.”
- “Tu dois faire mes devoirs tous les jours.” — “You must do my homework every day.”
- “J'ai dû aller chez le médecin cette semaine.” — “I have had to go to the doctor this week.”
- “Il devait partir tôt demain autrefois.” — “He used to must leave early tomorrow in the past.”
- “Nous devrons faire mes devoirs demain.” — “We will must do my homework tomorrow.”
- “Tu as dû aller chez le médecin cette semaine.” — “You have had to go to the doctor this week.”
- “Je devrais partir tôt demain un jour.” — “I would must leave early tomorrow one day.”
- “Il est important que il doive faire mes devoirs.” — “It is important that he must do my homework.”
- “Nous avions dû aller chez le médecin avant la fête.” — “We had had to go to the doctor before the party.”
- “Il devra partir tôt demain demain.” — “He will must leave early tomorrow tomorrow.”
- “Ils doivent faire mes devoirs tous les jours.” — “They must do my homework every day.”
- “Dois aller chez le médecin !” — “Must go to the doctor!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about leave early tomorrow. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how devoir changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of devoir below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je dois partir tôt demain tous les jours.” — “I must leave early tomorrow every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je devrai faire mes devoirs demain.” — “I will must do my homework tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai dû aller chez le médecin cette semaine.” — “I have had to go to the doctor this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je devrais partir tôt demain un jour.” — “I would must leave early tomorrow one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Devoir in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of devoir that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, devoir describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is dois: “Je dois partir tôt demain tous les jours.” — “I must leave early tomorrow every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, devoir describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is devait: “Il devait faire mes devoirs autrefois.” — “He used to must do my homework in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, devoir reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle dû. The je form is ai dû: “J'ai dû aller chez le médecin cette semaine.” — “I have had to go to the doctor this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, devoir talks about what will happen. The nous form is devrons: “Nous devrons partir tôt demain demain.” — “We will must leave early tomorrow tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, devoir talks about what would happen. The tu form is devrais: “Tu devrais faire mes devoirs un jour.” — “You would must do my homework one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, devoir appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is doive, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je doive aller chez le médecin.” — “It is important that I must go to the doctor.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je devoir partir tôt demain.”
✓ Right: “Je dois partir tôt demain.”
The infinitive devoir never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form dois.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu dois partir tôt demain.”
✓ Right: “Tu dois partir tôt demain.”
dois is the je form. With tu you need dois. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je dois partir tôt demain hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai dû partir tôt demain hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai dû, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu dois faire mes devoirs.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu doives faire mes devoirs.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: doives, not the indicative dois.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je dû partir tôt demain.”
✓ Right: “Je ai dû partir tôt demain.”
The passé composé of devoir needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle dû: the full je form is ai dû.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on devoir. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of devoir in the Present indicative?
- A) devez
- B) dois
- C) doit
- D) devons
What is the tu form of devoir in the Present indicative?
- A) devez
- B) dois
- C) doit
- D) devons
What is the il/elle form of devoir in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) a dû
- B) ai dû
- C) as dû
- D) avons dû
What is the nous form of devoir in the Imperfect?
- A) devions
- B) devais
- C) devait
- D) deviez
What is the tu form of devoir in the Future?
- A) devrai
- B) devra
- C) devrons
- D) devras
What is the je form of devoir in the Conditional?
- A) devrions
- B) devriez
- C) devrais
- D) devrait
What is the il/elle form of devoir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) deviez
- B) doive
- C) doives
- D) devions
What is the je form of devoir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) aviez dû
- B) avais dû
- C) avait dû
- D) avions dû
What is the gerund of devoir?
- A) en donnant
- B) en trouvant
- C) en parlant
- D) en devant
What does devoir mean in English?
- A) to find
- B) to speak
- C) to must, to owe
- D) to give
Answer key
- B) dois — the je form of devoir in the Present indicative is dois. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) dois — the tu form of devoir in the Present indicative is dois. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) a dû — the il/elle form of devoir in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a dû. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) devions — the nous form of devoir in the Imperfect is devions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) devras — the tu form of devoir in the Future is devras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) devrais — the je form of devoir in the Conditional is devrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) doive — the il/elle form of devoir in the Present subjunctive is doive. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) avais dû — the je form of devoir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais dû. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) en devant — the gerund of devoir is en devant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to must, to owe — devoir means “to must, to owe” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does devoir mean in English?
devoir means “to must, to owe”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is devoir regular or irregular?
devoir is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, gerund, past-participle. The gerund is devant and the past participle is dû.
How do I practise devoir every day?
Say one sentence with devoir in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je dois partir tôt demain tous les jours.”, “J'ai dû partir tôt demain cette semaine.” and “Je devrai partir tôt demain demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for devoir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of devoir — every tense of devoir in one place.
- Devoir in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Devoir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Donner conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Trouver conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Parler conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise devoir with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise devoir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise devoir with the interactive tool.