Is devoir an irregular verb?

Yes, and its irregularity is in the stems rather than the endings. The present alone uses three (je dois, nous devons, ils doivent), the future and conditional use a fourth (devr-), and the past participle dû is unpredictable. The endings themselves are the ordinary ones for the third group.

Why does dû have a circumflex?

Only to distinguish it in writing from du, the partitive article in du café. That ambiguity exists nowhere else in the paradigm, so the feminine and plural participles are written without the accent: la somme due, les sommes dues, les montants dus. Nothing about the pronunciation changes either way.

What is the difference between je dois and je devrais?

Je dois states an obligation: je dois travailler ce soir, I have to work tonight. Je devrais is the conditional and gives advice or expresses a mild expectation: tu devrais te reposer, you should rest. French uses the conditional of devoir exactly where English uses should, which is why the two forms are worth drilling side by side.

Does devoir mean “must” or “to owe”?

Both, plus a third sense. With an infinitive it is obligation (elle doit partir). With a noun it is debt (elle me doit une réponse). And with an infinitive in a context of guessing it expresses likelihood (elle doit être coincée dans les bouchons, she must be stuck in traffic). Word order and what follows the verb tell you which reading applies.

How do you say “I should have” in French?

Use the conditionnel passé of devoir: j'aurais dû, followed by an infinitive. J'aurais dû te prévenir means I should have warned you. The negative works the same way: je n'aurais pas dû insister, I shouldn't have pushed. It is one of the most useful constructions in the language for apologising.

Devoir Conjugation: All Tenses of the French Verb “devoir”

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed August 2026

Devoir means “to have to” or “must,” and also “to owe.” It is the standard way French expresses obligation, and one of the few verbs whose meaning shifts noticeably depending on the tense you put it in.

At a glance
Infinitive	devoir
English	to have to, must; to owe
Verb group	3rd group (irregular)
Auxiliary	avoir
Past participle	dû
Present participle	devant

Conjugation tables

Indicatif

Présent (Present)
je	dois	I have to
tu	dois	you have to
il/elle/on	doit	he/she has to
nous	devons	we have to
vous	devez	you have to
ils/elles	doivent	they have to

Imparfait (Imperfect)
je	devais	I had to
tu	devais	you had to
il/elle/on	devait	he/she had to
nous	devions	we had to
vous	deviez	you had to
ils/elles	devaient	they had to

Passé composé (Perfect)
j'	ai dû	I have had to
tu	as dû	you have had to
il/elle/on	a dû	he/she has had to
nous	avons dû	we have had to
vous	avez dû	you have had to
ils/elles	ont dû	they have had to

Futur simple (Simple future)
je	devrai	I will have to
tu	devras	you will have to
il/elle/on	devra	he/she will have to
nous	devrons	we will have to
vous	devrez	you will have to
ils/elles	devront	they will have to

Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect)
j'	avais dû	I had had to
tu	avais dû	you had had to
il/elle/on	avait dû	he/she had had to
nous	avions dû	we had had to
vous	aviez dû	you had had to
ils/elles	avaient dû	they had had to

Futur antérieur (Future perfect)
j'	aurai dû	I will have had to
tu	auras dû	you will have had to
il/elle/on	aura dû	he/she will have had to
nous	aurons dû	we will have had to
vous	aurez dû	you will have had to
ils/elles	auront dû	they will have had to

Subjonctif

Subjonctif présent (Subjunctive)
je	doive	(that) I have to
tu	doives	(that) you have to
il/elle/on	doive	(that) he/she have to
nous	devions	(that) we have to
vous	deviez	(that) you have to
ils/elles	doivent	(that) they have to

Subjonctif passé (Past subjunctive)
j'	aie dû	(that) I have had to
tu	aies dû	(that) you have had to
il/elle/on	ait dû	(that) he/she has had to
nous	ayons dû	(that) we have had to
vous	ayez dû	(that) you have had to
ils/elles	aient dû	(that) they have had to

Conditionnel

Conditionnel présent (Conditional)
je	devrais	I would have to
tu	devrais	you would have to
il/elle/on	devrait	he/she would have to
nous	devrions	we would have to
vous	devriez	you would have to
ils/elles	devraient	they would have to

Conditionnel passé (Past conditional)
j'	aurais dû	I would have had to
tu	aurais dû	you would have had to
il/elle/on	aurait dû	he/she would have had to
nous	aurions dû	we would have had to
vous	auriez dû	you would have had to
ils/elles	auraient dû	they would have had to

Impératif

Impératif présent (Imperative)
(tu)	dois	have to
(nous)	devons	let's have to
(vous)	devez	have to

Formes impersonnelles

Infinitives and participles
Infinitif	devoir	to have to
Participe présent	devant	having to
Participe passé	dû	had to
Infinitif passé	avoir dû	to have had to
Participe passé composé	ayant dû	having had to

Literary tenses

Passé simple (Simple past)
je	dus	I had to
tu	dus	you had to
il/elle/on	dut	he/she had to
nous	dûmes	we had to
vous	dûtes	you had to
ils/elles	durent	they had to

Passé antérieur (Past anterior)
j'	eus dû	I had had to
tu	eus dû	you had had to
il/elle/on	eut dû	he/she had had to
nous	eûmes dû	we had had to
vous	eûtes dû	you had had to
ils/elles	eurent dû	they had had to

Subjonctif imparfait (Imperfect subjunctive)
je	dusse	(that) I had to
tu	dusses	(that) you had to
il/elle/on	dût	(that) he/she had to
nous	dussions	(that) we had to
vous	dussiez	(that) you had to
ils/elles	dussent	(that) they had to

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect subjunctive)
j'	eusse dû	(that) I had had to
tu	eusses dû	(that) you had had to
il/elle/on	eût dû	(that) he/she had had to
nous	eussions dû	(that) we had had to
vous	eussiez dû	(that) you had had to
ils/elles	eussent dû	(that) they had had to

How Devoir behaves

Devoir does three separate jobs. Followed by an infinitive it marks obligation: je dois partir, I have to go. Followed by a noun it means to owe: je te dois dix euros. And with no change of form at all it expresses probability, which is the sense English also covers with must: il doit être en réunion means he must be in a meeting, as a guess rather than a rule. The tense then adds another layer: je devais means I was supposed to, je devrais means I should, and j'aurais dû means I should have.

Devoir has the three-stem present typical of verbs in -oir: doi- in the singular (je dois, tu dois, il doit), dev- for nous devons and vous devez, and doiv- for ils doivent. The imparfait and the participe présent are built on dev- (je devais, devant), while the future and conditional use the shortened stem devr- (je devrai, je devrais). The subjunctive splits exactly like the present: que je doive but que nous devions. The past participle is dû, and the circumflex belongs to the masculine singular only — the feminine and the plurals are written due, dus and dues.

Devoir takes avoir: j'ai dû. In the compound tenses the obligation is usually one that was actually carried out, so j'ai dû partir plus tôt means I had to leave early, and I did. The conditionnel passé j'aurais dû is the opposite: an obligation you failed to meet.

Devoir in context

Présent: Vous devez présenter une pièce d'identité à l'entrée.
You have to show ID at the entrance.
Imparfait: Nous devions dîner ensemble, mais elle a annulé.
We were supposed to have dinner together, but she cancelled.
Passé composé: J'ai dû annuler mon vol à cause de la grève.
I had to cancel my flight because of the strike.
Futur simple: Il devra repasser l'examen en septembre.
He'll have to retake the exam in September.
Subjonctif présent: Je ne veux pas que tu doives payer pour mon erreur.
I don't want you to have to pay for my mistake.

Common mistakes with devoir

Leaving out à with the “owe” meaning

✗ Je dois vingt euros pour Marie.

✓ Je dois vingt euros à Marie. — I owe Marie twenty euros.

The pattern is devoir quelque chose à quelqu'un: the thing owed is the direct object, the creditor is introduced by à. Pour is what English “for” suggests, but it changes the sense to paying twenty euros on Marie's behalf.

Confusing je devrai with je devrais

✗ Je devrais rendre le rapport lundi, c'est obligatoire.

✓ Je devrai rendre le rapport lundi, c'est obligatoire. — I'll have to hand in the report on Monday; it's compulsory.

The ending -ai is the future (je devrai, I will have to) and -ais is the conditional (je devrais, I should). With devoir the difference is not only tense: the conditional softens a hard obligation into advice, so the two sentences make opposite claims.

Keeping the circumflex on the feminine participle

✗ la somme dûe

✓ la somme due — the amount owed

The circumflex on dû exists for one reason: to keep the masculine singular participle apart in writing from the partitive du, as in du pain. There is nothing to disambiguate in the other forms, so due, dus and dues are written plain.

Expressions with devoir

comme il se doit: as is proper, as it should be
il doit y avoir: there must be
j'aurais dû le savoir: I should have known
devoir une explication à quelqu'un: to owe someone an explanation

Frequently asked questions

Is devoir an irregular verb?: Yes, and its irregularity is in the stems rather than the endings. The present alone uses three (je dois, nous devons, ils doivent), the future and conditional use a fourth (devr-), and the past participle dû is unpredictable. The endings themselves are the ordinary ones for the third group.
Why does dû have a circumflex?: Only to distinguish it in writing from du, the partitive article in du café. That ambiguity exists nowhere else in the paradigm, so the feminine and plural participles are written without the accent: la somme due, les sommes dues, les montants dus. Nothing about the pronunciation changes either way.
What is the difference between je dois and je devrais?: Je dois states an obligation: je dois travailler ce soir, I have to work tonight. Je devrais is the conditional and gives advice or expresses a mild expectation: tu devrais te reposer, you should rest. French uses the conditional of devoir exactly where English uses should, which is why the two forms are worth drilling side by side.
Does devoir mean “must” or “to owe”?: Both, plus a third sense. With an infinitive it is obligation (elle doit partir). With a noun it is debt (elle me doit une réponse). And with an infinitive in a context of guessing it expresses likelihood (elle doit être coincée dans les bouchons, she must be stuck in traffic). Word order and what follows the verb tell you which reading applies.
How do you say “I should have” in French?: Use the conditionnel passé of devoir: j'aurais dû, followed by an infinitive. J'aurais dû te prévenir means I should have warned you. The negative works the same way: je n'aurais pas dû insister, I shouldn't have pushed. It is one of the most useful constructions in the language for apologising.