B1 · Can, must, want
Modals in the past
«Must» has no past in English; here it has two.
At a glance
- Remember
- j’ai pu is «I managed to»; je pouvais is «I could have».
- Form
- j’ai puI managed to, I was able to
- Signal words
- ai pu
- ai dû
- ai voulu
- pouvais
- savais
- Trap
- Wrong:J’ai su qu’il était malade depuis longtemps.Right:Je savais qu’il était malade depuis longtemps.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending auxiliary verb
| I managed to, I was able to | j’ai pu |
| you managed to | tu as pu |
| he managed to | il a pu |
| we managed to | nous avons pu |
| you managed to (plural, polite) | vous avez pu |
| they managed to | ils ont pu |
| I had to | j’ai dû |
| I wanted to, I tried to | j’ai voulu |
| I found out | j’ai su |
| I could, it was possible | je pouvais |
| you could | tu pouvais |
| he could | il pouvait |
| we could | nous pouvions |
| you could (plural, polite) | vous pouviez |
| they could | ils pouvaient |
| I knew | je savais |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
All four build the passé composé with avoir.
Nous avons dû attendre une heure.We had to wait an hour.
The passé composé means it really happened.
J’ai pu réserver deux places.I managed to book two seats.
The imparfait means a state held.
À cette époque, on pouvait entrer gratuitement.In those days you could get in free.
j’ai su means the moment you found out.
J’ai su la nouvelle hier soir.I found out last night.
Example sentences
Elle a dû rentrer plus tôt que prévu.She had to go back earlier than planned.
Je ne savais pas qu’il était malade.I did not know he was ill.
Ils ont voulu partir, mais il n’y avait plus de train.They wanted to leave, but there were no trains left.
Nous n’avons pas pu vous joindre.We were not able to reach you.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
«I knew» is almost never j'ai su. Knowing is a state, and a state takes the imparfait: je savais. The passé composé turns it into a moment — the one when you found out. English has «I knew» and «I found out» as two different verbs, so the fix is to ask which of the two the sentence means, and then pick the tense to match. The same split runs through j'avais against j'ai eu.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The participles are short and irregular: pu, dû, voulu, su — all with avoir.
English has almost nothing to convert here. «Must» has no past form at all and borrows «had to»; «can» has «could», which is not really a past but a softener («could you help me» is about now). French modals have a full past, and they have *two* of them, and the choice carries meaning.
The passé composé says the thing actually happened: J'ai pu réserver — I managed it. J'ai dû partir — and I did leave. English marks this with «managed to» and «had to».
The imparfait says a state held, without anything following from it: Je pouvais réserver — booking was possible, and nothing is said about whether I did. English says «I could have booked» or «I was allowed to book».
J'ai su does not mean «I knew» but «I found out» — the moment the knowledge arrived. Lasting knowledge is the imparfait: je savais. And dû carries an accent so it does not collide with the partitive du; the feminine due drops it.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: avoir · pouvoir · devoir · savoir · être · partir · vouloir · attendre