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Julia
"I must have" vs "I had to" in French I have seen both of these translated as: "J''ai dû..." But how would you differentiate between the two in the following example: I had to eat a fly... vs I must have eaten a fly... ? Thanks in advance.
Feb 18, 2017 6:03 PM
Answers · 4
Hello Julia, "I had to eat a fly" is as you said "j'ai dû" like in "J'ai dû manger une mouche", but you can also say "Je devais manger une mouche à cause de/pour x raison" when you're talking about a story that happened in the past. But, when you mean "I must have eaten a fly", you can only use "J'ai dû", but in "manger" you do the action, but in "gober", you undergo it, so you'll say "J'ai dû gober une mouche". Now, in french, the difference can be understood depending on the context. Feel free to ask me more questions if you want to know anything else ! :)
February 18, 2017
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