Thom 🌈

[reef dagger]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

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[wispy forge]

no

'have to' is usually translated as « devoir »

'I have to leave / Je dois partir'

[gusty mica]

also, what’s the context here

as in, this could be a cat, but it might not be

or, we can get a pet, but it doesn’t have to be a cat

1. ce n’est pas forcément un chat
2. il n’est pas nécessaire que ce soit un chat

[austere thistle]

You don't have to use a cat. You could use a dog. It doesn't have to be a cat.

I'm trying to practice my irregular verbs

The cat is just a throw in example because the cat isn't the word I was using in the original scenario.

[gusty mica]

vous n’avez pas à (tu n’as pas à) utiliser un chat. Vous pourriez utiliser un chien. Il n’est pas nécessaire que ce soit un chat.

hmm you could also say vous n’avez pas forcément à

that sounds better

check with a native tho i could be wrong

[austere thistle]

What's the tense/ conjugation used for the word "soit"?

[gusty mica]

its the subjunctive present

for the verb être

in the third person singular

ah hold on

tired, made a mistake

« que ce soit » is the correct thing to say

[austere thistle]

So instead of whatever I was doing you're denoting that an assumed conditional was false? By saying "it's not necessary" then using subjunctive present on my assumed statement?

[wispy forge]

What's 'use' here because « utiliser » means using the object as an instrument

'You could use a friend' is « Tu pourrais avoir besoin d'un ami »

where 'use something' here is colloquial for 'need something'

[austere thistle]

Um... that's a good question... I never had to think about the way I mean my words in English... um...

I suppose you're correct utiliser is a better word and I forgot...

[gusty mica]

subjunctives only imply uncertainty or hypotheticals

[wispy forge]

To me, what you're saying is basically: 'You don't have to have a cat, you could have a dog. It doesn't have to be a cat.'
In which case, my translation would be: « Ce n'est pas forcément un chat, tu peux avoir un chien. Il n'est pas nécessaire que ce soit un chat. »

[austere thistle]

This is wild. It's bringing it the weirdness in both the English and the French language.

[spark basin]

Question: can I say Ça n'a pas à être un chien?

To mean ‘it doesn’t have to be a cat’

[wispy forge]

You can but I don't think it's particularly widespread

« avoir à » tends to show up in certain, perhaps fixed, expressions like « n'avoir qu'à faire »
other than that, « devoir » and other ways of showing obligation/necessity are used

[spark basin]

Ty

[opal comet]

Yeah avoir à sounds kinda formal

[harsh sluice]

context is everything