falloir (il faut …) ‘to be necessary’

The verb falloir only exists in the impersonal form (il faut). It always expresses the notion of necessity or obligation which is translated into English in various ways (‘must,’ ‘should,’ ‘have to’). Falloir may be followed by an infinitive as in (a), by a noun as in (b), or it may be preceded by a pronoun acting as an indirect object as in (c).

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(a) Il faut être actif/active pour être en bonne santé.      It is necessary to be active to be in good health.

(b) Il faut du sommeil pour être en bonne santé.            Sleep is necessary for good physical and mental health.

phyique et psychologique.

(c)  Il me faut un bon livre pour s’endormir.                      I need a good book to fall asleep.

impersonal expressions with ‘être’ + [adjective]

The impersonal subject il may appear with the verb être followed by an adjective and an infinitive. Note that the infinitive is always introduced by the preposition de in such impersonal expressions:

Il est + [adjective] + de + [infinitive]

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other common impersonal expressions

Il y a, there is, there are
il est + clock time (Il est deux heures, It’s two o’clock.)
Il s’agit de, to be about, to be a matter of, to be a question of
Il vaut mieux, to be better, to be advisable

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questions about people

Qui is used to ask questions about people. It may be the subject or the direct object in a sentence and thus, can mean either ‘who?’ or ‘whom?’ You may also choose to use the longer forms: qui est-ce qui to ask ‘who?’, qui est-ce que to ask ‘whom?’

As the subject: qui, qui est-ce qui
As the direct object: qui, qui est-ce que

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questions about things

Qu’est-ce qui, que, and its longer form qu’est-ce que are used to ask questions about things. They are used to ask ‘what?’. Que and its longer form qu’est-ce que are direct objects in a sentence, whereas qu’est-ce qui may be used only as the subject. (There is no short form of qu’est-ce qui.)

As the subject: qu’est-ce qui
As the direct object: que, qu’est-ce que
As the object of a preposition: quoi

devoir
Devoir expresses obligation, probability, and supposition but if followed by a noun, expresses the idea “to owe”. This verb is irregular in its present form. Once again, the “boot” formation is seen with this verb; the stem changes in the 1st and 2nd person plural conjugations.

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Devoir may be followed by an infinitive or may stand alone to have the meaning “to have to” (Je dois partir, I must leave.) When followed by a noun, devoir means “to owe” (Je dois 10 dollars).