Pouvoir (to be able to) and devoir (to have to) are both irregular verbs. As they don’t follow the regular –ir verb rules, they must be learned well. Je peux
I am able to/can Tu peux Il peut
Elle peut On peut
you are able to/can (one person/informal)
he is able to/can she is able to/can one is able to/can
Nous pouvons we are able to/can
Vous pouvez you are able to/can (more than one person/formal)
Ils peuvent they are able to/can (masculine) Elles peuvent they are able to/can (feminine) Je dois Tu dois Il doit
Elle doit On doit
I have to/must
you have to/must (one person/informal)
he has to/must she has to/must one has to/must
Nous devons we have to/must Vous devez
Ils doivent
you have to/must (more than one person/formal)
they have to/must (masculine) Elles doivent they have to/must (feminine)
Like vouloir (to want), pouvoir and devoir are very useful verbs because their present tense form can be followed with lots of different infinitive (full) verbs to make phrases.
Retenez !
The infinitive (basic verb) is the part of the verb you find in a dictionary and ends in -er -ir or –re. For example, jouer, aller, manger, finir, faire and boire.
