I'm confused by: "Tu ne devrais pas leur faire confiance." In the present, wouldn't it be "Tu ne dois pas leur faire confiance.", that is:

CarolB2Kwiziq community member

I'm confused by: "Tu ne devrais pas leur faire confiance." In the present, wouldn't it be "Tu ne dois pas leur faire confiance.", that is:

You must not / shouldn't trust them.  So what does using the imparfait do, and how is the meaning using devrais different from using dois?
Asked 5 years ago
ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Carol, devrais is not the imperfect, it is actually present tense but present tense conditional.

devrais -- you should

The imperfect would be similar but without the "r": devais.

CarolB2Kwiziq community member
Thanks!! I don't know conditional yet, no wonder I was confused.

I'm confused by: "Tu ne devrais pas leur faire confiance." In the present, wouldn't it be "Tu ne dois pas leur faire confiance.", that is:

You must not / shouldn't trust them.  So what does using the imparfait do, and how is the meaning using devrais different from using dois?

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