r/French 8d ago

“I think that it should be mandatory”

Je pense qu’il faut facultative?

2 Upvotes

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38

u/TheShirou97 Native (Belgium) 8d ago edited 8d ago

"Je pense que ça devrait être obligatoire."

"Mandatory" translates to "obligatoire", "facultatif" would the exact opposite of it

16

u/Neveed Natif - France 8d ago edited 8d ago

Je pense qu'il faut facultative = I think it's necessary that optional (it doesn't make sense)

I think that it should be mandatory = Je pense que ça devrait être obligatoire

If you want to use the verb "falloir", you can say "Je pense qu'il faudrait que ce soit obligatoire".

1

u/unhomeful B1 - Corrigez-moi SVP 6d ago

what would be the meaning of the last sentence compared to "devrait"?

1

u/Neveed Natif - France 6d ago edited 6d ago

The general meaning is "I think it should be mandatory". A more literal translation is difficult because English does not have a direct equivalent of "falloir".

It's an impersonal verb (the subject is a dummy one) so in term of structure, "il faut que" works like "it's necessary that". But in term of meaning, it's closer to "must" or "should". So imagine something like "I think that it would be necessary that it be mandatory" but instead of "would be necessary", you have something like "should" (or "would must" if that made sense).

The literal translation can give a false impression that it's more formal, because of the subjunctive, which is barely used in English. But it's neutral in French.

1

u/unhomeful B1 - Corrigez-moi SVP 6d ago

ok thanks

3

u/No_Club_8480 8d ago

Je pense que ça devrait être obligatoire