Impersonal Verbs in French : Valoir, Falloir, Pleuvoir

Salut !

Conjugation is the trickiest part of French language — along with the silent “e,” knowing when a word is masculine or feminine, pronouncing “serrurerie”…

Anyway, when you find out that some verbs have only one person in their conjugation (the third person singular), they must be pretty simple to use, right? Wrong.

Let’s see why.




Et toi ?

Have you ever confused these verbs?
What was the occasion?
Do you know any other impersonal French verbs ?

Share your experience (in French if you dare!) in the comments below. We can all learn from your story. The comment section is the best place to start discussions and ask questions!

Bonne journée,

Géraldine

Join the conversation!

  • It’s raining, so you need to take an umbrella to go out, but it’s better that you stay home and wait for the sunshine.

    En fait Géraldine, la jupe est adorable.

  • It’s raining, you need to take an umbrella to go out, but it would be better to stay home and wait for the sun.

  • It’s raining, you must take an umbrella to go out, but it would be better if you stayed at home and wait for the sunshine!! Je crois!

  • Ouf! Évidemment je tape très mal… “ne pas vouloir la peine” a dû être “ne pas *valoir* la peine.”

    Je dois relire avant d’envoyer mes commentaires, non?

    Bisous, Jim

  • Salut, Géraldine!

    Il semble que mon commentaire, y compris la question que je te posais, est disparu! En tout cas, il ne figure plus sur l’écran de mon ordinateur à ce moment. Je voulais tout simplement savior si l’expression “ne pas vouloir la peine” peut s’exprimer correctement en français “c’est pas la peine (de).” Je crois me rappeler de l’avoir écouté comme ça… Est-ce du bon français?

    À propos du verbe valoir, n’était-ce pas le roi François IV qui a fameusement dit “Paris vaut bien une messe”?

    Merci de ta gentille réponse.

    Bisous, Jim

    • Bonjour Jim,
      Oui, on a eu un souci avec le site. 🙂
      Oui, tout à fait :
      – Ca ne vaut pas la peine de repeindre ce mur, on va le démolir demain.

      More “spoken French” is:
      – Ça vaut pas la peine de repeindre ce mur, on va le démolir demain.

      and even more (what I’d say):
      – Pas la peine de repeindre ce mur, on va le démolir demain.

      (don’t waste your time painting this wall, we’ll destroy it tomorrow)

    • C’était Henri IV qui aurait dit “Paris vaut bien une messe” au moment (1593) où il serait sacré roi. Étant protestant, il a dû se convertir en catholique pour devenir roi de France, donc il devait accepter le rite de la messe catholique.

  • It is raining , it is necessary that you take an umbrella if you go out , but it is better if you stay at home and wait for the sun.

  • I understood the test sentence but that was a bit complicated !

    For a future episode how about explaining the French heath care system? Salut

  • I enjoy your lessons, but because I’m a beginner, I really would benefit from translations of every sentence/phrase. Thank you.

  • Coucou Géraldine. Merci encore pour la video. Je te propose un sujet pour une prochaine video – comment utiliser «ben dis donc» c’est une phrase très difficile pour moi et peut-être les autres aussi.

    • It’s only expression of surprise, like ” oh really ” nothing difficult about it, I shouldn’t imagine !

  • It is raining, it is necessary that you take an umbrella to go out,but it is better that you stay at your place waiting for the sun.

  • It’s raining, you must take an umbrella to go out, but it’s better to stay at home and wait for the sunshine.

  • Not exact but the sense:
    “It is raining, so you have to take an umbrella to go out, but maybe wait at home for the sun to appear?”

  • It’s raining, so take your umbrella when you go out, but you might as well stay in until the sun comes out.

  • I would translate as…
    Its raining, need to take an umbrella for going out, but it may be worth staying at your house to wait for the sun.

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