"Il faut être parfait."

Translation: It is necessary to be perfect.

[lacorbata]

Apparently "Il faut" is an idiom for "It is necessary."

[ablazewska]

Why not "it has to be perfect"?

[Sitesurf]

"il faut" does not refer to someone in particular but certainly to a human being (or several).

Therefore, "it has to be perfect" would point to an object.
In that case, the French would be "It (for example: this cake) has to be perfect".

[Zeagalicious]

So how would it be written in French "It has to be perfect"?

[Sitesurf]

yes, and also "il faut qu'il soit parfait"

[IngridSchuler]

Not sure, maybe "Il doit etre parfait"?

[DuFarge]

Could one not use then 'on' ... 'on faut etre parfait'? 'One has to be perfect'?

[Sitesurf]

No, the form "il faut" comes from verb "falloir" which is defective, ie it is not conjugated at all persons but only the impersonal "il".

[KatieSexton]

Can this also be translated as "He has to be perfect"?

[jena]

It can't since the verb falloir is always impersonal. You'd need to say: Il lui faut e^tre parfait/ Il doit e^tre parfait

[rustycrevice]

It gives one option of the correct answer as "we must be perfect" - how is it we?

[Sitesurf]

"il faut" does not refer to someone in particular. So the possible translations in English are "one", "you" (collective) or "we", which are more or less equivalent for a non individualized message.

[ElFFELTOWER]

Would this work?: 'It must be perfect.'

[Sitesurf]

If you back translate "it must be perfect" (= it is necessary that it is perfect), you get "il faut qu'il/elle soit parfait(e)".

So, no it does not work, because "il faut + verb" = "it is necessary to + verb", both being impersonal.

[ElFFELTOWER]

Thank you, you are always very kind and helpful @Sitesurf

[NinaZaffita]

I answered 'it has to be perfect' and it tells me that is wrong? I don't understand why that is wrong. It has to be perfect is the same as saying 'it is necessary to be perfect', in fact it is better English grammatically and even colloquially...

[DuFarge]

Don't understand how 'il faut' translates to 'we'.

[Sitesurf]

"il faut..." is neutral and translates in "it is necessary to...". Now, English speakers usually use other formulas to mean "it is necessary to...", and tend to personalize the subject: "I have to...", "You have to...", We have to..." depending on the context.

[emptyeyed]

How would you say "He needs to be perfect" then?

[Sitesurf]

Il a besoin d'être parfait

[Martytoof]

Does this discussion only pertain to "il faut"? That is to say, would "nous faillons être parfait" also mean "we need to be perfect" and refer to a known group of individuals?

[Sitesurf]

No, unfortunately, "falloir" is defective, which means that it only exists with the impersonal pronoun "il".
However, all tenses are possible:

• present: il faut
• imparfait : il fallait
• futur simple: il faudra
• passé simple : il fallut
• futur antérieur: il aura fallu
• passé composé: il a fallu
• pus que parfait: il avait fallu
• passé antérieur: il eut fallu
• conditionnel présent: il faudrait
• conditionnel passé: il aurait fallu
• subjonctif présent: qu'il faille

there are others, but I think you can manage every possible situation with those...

[Martytoof]

Cette explication est tres utile. Merci beaucoup!

[hilmansiwabessy]

It supposed to be "it has to be perfect"

[Sitesurf]

it has to be perfect = il / elle / ceci/cela/ça doit être parfait.

[Foggybottom.]

The correct answer I was given was “ We have to be perfect”. Reading other inquiries and seeing what the answer is. Can I trust what I’m reading?

[Sitesurf]

Since "il faut" is impersonal, you can use "one, you or we".

[numinousfog]

What is wrong with saying: It needs to be perfect.

[d10MplTj]

"Il doit etre parfait" ??

[Hrmtavn]

One must be perfect...correct

[Michael775713]

Very tricky