"Il me faut juste..."

Is this an idiomatic expression? I'm not sure how it could be used outside of this example that I came across in a lesson:

"Il me faut juste une carte de crédit." (A hotel receptionist speaking to a guest)

I understand that it means something like, "I just need a credit card," but wonder if it's missing another verb -- something like, il me faut donner just une carte de crédit.

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Permalink Reply by Charles D on February 1, 2013 at 6:49am

I think your second sentence ought to be "Il vous (te) faut me donner juste une carte de credit", which would translate, "You need to give me just a credit card". Your sentence is grammatical but means "I need to give just a credit card", which doesn't follow what a receptionist would say. Also, I find that in conversational French, as in English, verb forms can be left out and the intension of the phrase or sentence can still be communicated. "I just need a credit card" works very well against a more cumbersome "I need you to give me a just a credit card" in either language. But let's see what others come up with.

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on February 1, 2013 at 7:35am

Hello

It's not really an idiomatic expression in your example, it's the verb "falloir" in French. This verb means "être obligatoire" and is used only in the 3rd personn singular "il faut"="c'est obligatoire".

and the word "juste" in its first meaning is "seulement", "only".

In your example, "il me faut juste une carte de crédit" means rightly that a credit card is the only thing he needs to do something but this thing is obligatory. He could have used "il me faut seulement une carte de crédit" or "je n'ai besoin que d'une carte de crédit".

The verb "donner" is not say and is not necessary (it's overtone : if the receptionist needs a credit card, you don't have another choice, you must give him the credit card), but a complete sentence like "il vous faut juste me donner une carte de crédit" (with the verb donner) or "vous devez juste me donner une carte de crédit" would have the same meaning.