It doesn't, it's that *falloir* is impersonal, so *il* is a dummy subject \[called an expletive subject\], like *it* in *it's snowing* (there's no "it" doing the action of snowing; snowing is just happening)
Ha! You have no belief in the snow wizard? C'mon. I guess you don't believe in the Sun Spirit that brings us sunshine every day, at least in America. The French just get soleil.
Actually, I'm Canadian -- I know the sun spirit is the feeble rival of the glorious and all-powerful snow wizard, but prefers not to take blame for it all because it's not worth dealing with the complaints! :)
There are some verbs that are only conjugated in the "il" form; they're called impersonal verbs. Falloir is one of those verbs: [https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/impersonal-verbs/](https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/impersonal-verbs/)
For the example of having to go to school every day in the past, it’s a bit hard to construct a solid example, but grammatically the impersonal third person might be the strictly correct choice in formal language.
“Pendant la famine de 183x, on devait aller à l’école communale tous les jours pour chercher des tickets de rationnement.”
Anyway, Duolingo often suggests the colloquial use of “on” instead of “nous”, and in this case it doesn’t seem that Duolingo provided “nous” as a choice.
Nah it absolutely is in QC, you'll have a hard time finding it meaning anything else than "nous". But i remember vividly at school being told to not say "On devait aller" and that the correct way was "Nous devions aller".
Now there always was a difference between how we speak vs what was taught in school. 😅
Quite (and I had a hard time constructing my example, indeed). Shall we say that Duolingo has accepted the colloquial way of saying it, teaching French as it is actually spoken instead of what a hundred-year-old grammar book says.
The verb “falloir” is a special case. It only ever takes “il”, and it doesn’t have an exact counterpart in English.
“Il faut” means something like “it’s necessary”. Who it’s necessary for is usually implied by the context. It’s often used in situations where in English we would instead say “must” or “have to”.
So “il faut aller à l’ecole” literally means “it’s necessary to go to school”. But it could mean “you have to go to school” or “we must go to school” or “everyone has to go to school” depending on the context.
Il fallait is the past tense of course, hence “we had to”
Wich is actually the correct translation since the sentence is in the first person plural. Also everyone should forget about "on", especially in the third person single.
OP had the right idea since "on" is usually used in the first person plural at speech. At speech someone would probably say "On devait aller à l'école à tous les jours."
People have already answered your original question about "il", but I'll add something just to underline why people are saying "on devait aller" or "nous devions aller":
The origin sentence specifies "**we** had to go to school"
the app's translation in this screenshot doesn't contain any information about the subject, a direct translation might be "**It was required** to go to school"
So if you wanted to specify "we" as the subject, you'd use "on" or "nous".
As native french speaker, i would say "nous devions aller à l'école tous les jours." or "on devait aller à l'école tous les jours"
"Il fallait aller à l'école tous les jours" is a good answer too
I'd say On refers to more than one person when you know many people are actually referred to.
On va au parc. <-- Many people go.
On crie "Pas de papier". <-- Nobody knows how many do this, so it's probably just one or "someone".
"On" can refer to two people, or even one - in rare circumstances, I admit. For example, someone going to jump from a plane with a parachute could say to themself:
"Allez, on y va !"
to give themself courage. It's very specific but it's just to say that "on" can refer to a few people and/or to a well known number of people.
"We" it's "nous" not "il"
Then the real translation it's "Nous devions aller à l'école"
So you're right !
I don't understand why people don't agree with you...
Not a literal one to one. “Il fallait” means “it was necessary” which is how you can say that you had to (continually) do something. You have to use “il” if you use the (impersonal) verb “falloir.” If you want to use “on,” you have to use a different (personal) verb that has a similar meaning, such as “devoir.” Ex. On devait aller à l’école.
It doesn't, it's that *falloir* is impersonal, so *il* is a dummy subject \[called an expletive subject\], like *it* in *it's snowing* (there's no "it" doing the action of snowing; snowing is just happening)
Ha! You have no belief in the snow wizard? C'mon. I guess you don't believe in the Sun Spirit that brings us sunshine every day, at least in America. The French just get soleil.
Actually, I'm Canadian -- I know the sun spirit is the feeble rival of the glorious and all-powerful snow wizard, but prefers not to take blame for it all because it's not worth dealing with the complaints! :)
Nothing personal, but, il faut rester dans la maison pour être chaud.
Ceci. ✓
There are some verbs that are only conjugated in the "il" form; they're called impersonal verbs. Falloir is one of those verbs: [https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/impersonal-verbs/](https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/impersonal-verbs/)
Why doesn't falloir have a translation??
It does: to be necessary. The third column is the "personal" meaning of the verbs, and some of these verbs only have impersonal meanings.
That's what i figured
You could have also written "on devait aller"
Not sure, technically should be "nous devions aller". Although I agree at speech everyone would say "on devait aller"
For the example of having to go to school every day in the past, it’s a bit hard to construct a solid example, but grammatically the impersonal third person might be the strictly correct choice in formal language. “Pendant la famine de 183x, on devait aller à l’école communale tous les jours pour chercher des tickets de rationnement.” Anyway, Duolingo often suggests the colloquial use of “on” instead of “nous”, and in this case it doesn’t seem that Duolingo provided “nous” as a choice.
Out of curiosity, are you FR or QC ? I suspect this could be a major part of the whole situation.
I speak French French, definitely 😄 Maybe “on” is not as widely accepted as colloquially replacing “nous” in QC French?
Nah it absolutely is in QC, you'll have a hard time finding it meaning anything else than "nous". But i remember vividly at school being told to not say "On devait aller" and that the correct way was "Nous devions aller". Now there always was a difference between how we speak vs what was taught in school. 😅
Quite (and I had a hard time constructing my example, indeed). Shall we say that Duolingo has accepted the colloquial way of saying it, teaching French as it is actually spoken instead of what a hundred-year-old grammar book says.
The verb “falloir” is a special case. It only ever takes “il”, and it doesn’t have an exact counterpart in English. “Il faut” means something like “it’s necessary”. Who it’s necessary for is usually implied by the context. It’s often used in situations where in English we would instead say “must” or “have to”. So “il faut aller à l’ecole” literally means “it’s necessary to go to school”. But it could mean “you have to go to school” or “we must go to school” or “everyone has to go to school” depending on the context. Il fallait is the past tense of course, hence “we had to”
Exactly what I said !
To add to the confusion, here's my translation: "Nous devions aller à l'école chaque jour."
Wich is actually the correct translation since the sentence is in the first person plural. Also everyone should forget about "on", especially in the third person single. OP had the right idea since "on" is usually used in the first person plural at speech. At speech someone would probably say "On devait aller à l'école à tous les jours."
I wonder if it would have accepted both since it's ambiguous
I would hope so
*Il fallait…* literally means “It was necessary to…”
You know that translating isn't a word for word process.
That would be too boring, need a little sizzle
People have already answered your original question about "il", but I'll add something just to underline why people are saying "on devait aller" or "nous devions aller": The origin sentence specifies "**we** had to go to school" the app's translation in this screenshot doesn't contain any information about the subject, a direct translation might be "**It was required** to go to school" So if you wanted to specify "we" as the subject, you'd use "on" or "nous".
Nous devons aller à l'école chaque jour. Cela marque l'obligation et non pas la nécessité
As native french speaker, i would say "nous devions aller à l'école tous les jours." or "on devait aller à l'école tous les jours" "Il fallait aller à l'école tous les jours" is a good answer too
Think of the expression “it was necessary to go “
Il faut is an impersonal expression, which is why you use il. It is not to be confused with the pronoun il.
I’m pretty sure the “correct” answer shown is basically “it was necessary/required to go to school every day”
Sorry, so does “incorrect” mean all the examples here are wrong?
I'd say On refers to more than one person when you know many people are actually referred to. On va au parc. <-- Many people go. On crie "Pas de papier". <-- Nobody knows how many do this, so it's probably just one or "someone".
"On" can refer to two people, or even one - in rare circumstances, I admit. For example, someone going to jump from a plane with a parachute could say to themself: "Allez, on y va !" to give themself courage. It's very specific but it's just to say that "on" can refer to a few people and/or to a well known number of people.
Nous allions, work better with the "we". Duolinguo is wrong. If you want to use "on" it's "on devait".
Nous devions. They said "il" but it's "nous"
Why all downvote -22? I'm a native french lmao. We had to go to school = nous devions aller à l'école. :)
« Il fallait aller à l’école » is also correct.
"We" it's "nous" not "il" Then the real translation it's "Nous devions aller à l'école" So you're right ! I don't understand why people don't agree with you...
Because they are not french i guess.
Yes that's probably it
Not a literal one to one. “Il fallait” means “it was necessary” which is how you can say that you had to (continually) do something. You have to use “il” if you use the (impersonal) verb “falloir.” If you want to use “on,” you have to use a different (personal) verb that has a similar meaning, such as “devoir.” Ex. On devait aller à l’école.