# FR: It must have been the librarian



## seitt

Greetings,

The scenario: people are discussing whether a crime was committed by the gardener or the librarian.

Suddenly one of them realizes that he knows who the culprit is and exclaims, “It must have been the librarian!”

What would he say if speaking French?

This is, of course, basically a question about grammar: how to say "It must have been...".

All the best, and many thanks,

Simon


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## lamy08

Pour paraphraser le célèbre Raymond Souplex dans "Les 5 dernières minutes": Bon Dieu, mais c'est bien sûr ...
http://coinducinephage.canalblog.com/archives/2005/04/25/4616867.html


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## Maître Capello

lamy08 said:


> Bon Dieu, mais c'est bien sûr


Well, that is colloquial and it is not the translation of _It must have been_… We would indeed say:

_Ça doit être le bibliothécaire!_


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## geostan

Maître Capello said:


> Well, that is colloquial and it is not the translation of _It must have been_… We would indeed say:
> 
> _Ça doit être le bibliothécaire!_



Rather than_ Ça devait ê__tre le bibliothé__caire_ since it is in the past? Yes, I suppose the present could be used since the complete sentence could be:

_Ça doit être le bibliothé__caire qui a commis le crime._


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## seitt

Many thanks, very helpful indeed.


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## brumeux

Maître Capello said:


> Well, that is colloquial and it is not the translation of _It must have been_… We would indeed say:
> 
> _Ça doit être le bibliothécaire!_


 
But isn't this "It must be ..."?

To refer back to the time the act was committed, the way the English version does, would you still say _Ça doit être_ or use a past tense such as _Ça a dû être?_

Edit: I just saw the earlier comment by geostan. Would it be _Ça devait être, _then, rather than _Ça a dû être_? I thought that the passe composé in this case conveyed "must have" whereas the imparfait conveyed "was supposed to."


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## kangourou_francophone

Are we playing Cluedo?! 

Je tenterais plutôt - _ca aurait du être_ Colonel Mustard... ?


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## lamy08

Attention, ça part dans tous les sens.
MUST = déduction 
HAVE BEEN: infinitif passé, puisque l'acte a été commis dans le passé.
Logiquement, et littéralement, l'idée est: _c'est le libraire qui A DÛ commettre le crime._ 
Je reprends mon post 4 et je relance: (Bon Dieu), mais c'est bien sûr le libraire!

Le Bon Dieu traduit le MUST, l'évidence.
C'EST , présent, implique qu'on a trouvé qui avait fait le coup.


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## Oddmania

kangourou_francophone said:


> Are we playing Cluedo?!
> 
> Je tenterais plutôt - _ca aurait du être_ Colonel Mustard... ?



Nope, I don't think this one fits. This would mean_ It should've been the librarian _

I agree with Lamy, in French it's very common to hear in movies _C'est lui/Ça doit être lui/etc_ in the Present tense. It means _C'est lui (qui a commis le meurtre)._

If you really want to emphasize the fact that it's past, you could say_ Ça doit être lui qui a fait le coup!_


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## Lacuzon

I agree with oddmania, it could be présent or imparfait, depending on the whole sentence: 

C'était forcément le libraire ... qui était à tel endroit à tel heure !
C'est forcément le libraire ... (qui est) le coupable !
Another way to emphaze :
Ça ne pouvait être que le libraire  ... qui était à tel endroit à tel heure !
Ca ne peut être que le libraire ... (qui est) le coupable !


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## Maître Capello

geostan said:


> Rather than_ Ça devait ê__tre le bibliothé__caire_ since it is in the past? Yes, I suppose the present could be used since the complete sentence could be:_ Ça doit être le bibliothé__caire qui a commis le crime._


Exactly. As a matter of fact, _Ça *devait* être le __bibliothécaire_ (or _C'*était* forcément le __bibliothécaire_, etc.) would be used for a narration in the past, not in the present. In other words, they mean something like _It *had* to be the librarian_.


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## geostan

Maître Capello said:


> Exactly. As a matter of fact, _Ça *devait* être le __bibliothécaire_ (or _C'*était* forcément le __bibliothécaire_, etc.) would be used for a narration in the past, not in the present. In other words, they mean something like _It *had* to be the librarian_.



Well, _It had to be_ is a little stronger than _It must have been_, but they mean just about the same thing and one could replace the other.


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## Curt Jugg

Maître Capello said:


> Well, that is colloquial and it is not the translation of _It must have been_… We would indeed say:
> 
> _Ça doit être le bibliothécaire!_



Could one also say: "*Ce* doit être le bibliothécaire!"?


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## Lacuzon

Good Morning,

One could! It is a little more formal.


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## Curt Jugg

OK. Thanks for your reply. Oh, and if "cela" was used would that be more formal than "ce" or less?


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