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I know that falloir has only one subject case that is 3rd-person singular (il) and it's only valid to say il faut and il fallait. An object can also be supplied like il me faut and il nous faut.

But is it grammatically correct to say on me faut or on m'a fallu? They sound OK to me. Does this apply to other il-only verbs like pleuvoir or s'agir?

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Short and simple: no. It is incorrect.

Such verbs are only used with the impersonal "il" (the only exception may be pleuvoir when used in a figurative way, eg les coups pleuvent).

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  • on ne m'a faut pas le dire...
    – iBug
    Commented Nov 30, 2018 at 8:44
  • @iBug May be what you have in mind is "on ne doit pas me le dire"?
    – LPH
    Commented Nov 30, 2018 at 8:54
  • If you are keen on using on and express an obligation, you can indeed use on doit for il faut, eg il faut partir is more or the less the same as on doit partir
    – Greg
    Commented Nov 30, 2018 at 8:59
  • @Gred Yeah I know devoir is an alternative, but the question is about il-only words and falloir is just an example.
    – iBug
    Commented Nov 30, 2018 at 10:09
  • Still "les coups pleuvent" is 3rd person... As a side note, as your answer got accepted I think it would be good to actually name "such verbs" (les verbes défectifs) and maybe provide a reference...
    – Laurent S.
    Commented Nov 30, 2018 at 10:57

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