Fallait

Fallait is the imperfect tense of falloir, a largely impersonal French verb meaning “to be necessary” or “to have to.” As an impersonal verb, falloir takes only il as the subject, and forms other than the third person singular are not used in everyday speech. The key tenses are il faut (present), il fallait (imperfect), il faudra (future), il faudrait (conditional), and il a fallu (passé composé). The passé simple form il fallut exists but is rare outside literary contexts.

Falloir expresses necessity, obligation, or a requirement in a given situation. In its basic form, il faut means “one must” or “it is necessary.” In the past, il fallait indicates that something was necessary or required at that time. Falloir can introduce subordinate clauses with que to express that a subsequent action was required: il fallait que + subject + subjonctif, as in il fallait que je parte (I had to leave) or il fallait que tout le monde soit d’accord (everyone had to agree).

Examples illustrate the nuance:

- Il fallait partir tôt pour arriver à l’heure. (We had to leave early to arrive on time.)

- Il faut que vous veniez. (You must come.) with present subjunctive: il faut que vous veniez.

- Il faudrait faire plus attention. (We should pay more attention.)

- Il a fallu que nous agissions rapidement. (We had to act quickly.)

- Il aurait fallu partir plus tôt. (It would have been necessary to leave earlier.)

Origin and related terms: falloir is an old, impersonal verb with a somewhat obscure etymology, found in Old French as falir/fallir. It is distinct from faillir, a different verb meaning to fail or to nearly do something.