French: Everyday Phrases
French · Getting by
How to say I need to study in French
J'ai besoin d'étudier.
zhay buh-ZWAN day-tew-DYAY
Literally "I have need of studying". French expresses need as something you have rather than something you do.
What people actually say: Je dois réviser. Literally "I must revise", and what a French student would genuinely say before an exam. Réviser is going back over the material; étudier sounds academic in a way the English "study" does not.
The phrases around it
| English | French | Note |
|---|---|---|
| I need to study. | J'ai besoin d'étudier. | The literal translation. |
| I have to study. | Je dois étudier. | Devoir — must, have to. |
| I have to revise. | Je dois réviser. | What French students actually say before an exam. |
| I need to study more. | J'ai besoin d'étudier davantage. | Or plus, which is more casual. |
| I have to study for my exam. | Je dois réviser pour mon examen. | Réviser pour, not réviser à. |
| I need to study French. | J'ai besoin d'étudier le français. | French keeps the article: le français. |
| I am studying. | Je suis en train d'étudier. | The explicit "right now" form; j'étudie also works. |
| I studied all night. | J'ai étudié toute la nuit. | Passé composé with avoir. |
| I cannot, I have to study. | Je ne peux pas, je dois réviser. | In speech the ne drops: je peux pas. |
| I have an exam tomorrow. | J'ai un examen demain. | J'ai des devoirs is "I have homework". |
Avoir besoin de takes de, and de contracts
Besoin is a noun, so what follows it needs de: j'ai besoin de dormir, j'ai besoin d'aide. Before a vowel de becomes d', which is why it is j'ai besoin d'étudier and not de étudier. Forget the de and the sentence stops being French.
Réviser is the word you actually want
In France, réviser means going back over material you have already covered — exactly what English speakers mean by "studying for a test". Étudier is closer to "to study" as an academic pursuit: on étudie la médecine. If you are cramming tonight, you are révising.
Devoir is more natural than avoir besoin for obligation
J'ai besoin d'étudier says there is a need. Je dois étudier says you have to, and that is usually the meaning. Il faut que j'étudie is a third option — impersonal, slightly more emphatic, and it drags in the subjunctive, which is why beginners are better off with je dois.
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French · Beginner vocabulary