French language Q&A Forum

Can anyone explain what the difference between the passe compose and past perfect forms of devoir are? google translate shows them as being the same thing:

J'ai dû faire quelque chose     -> I had to do something

J'avais dû faire quelque chose  -> I had to do something

Similarly what is the difference between the future and conditional forms:

j'aurai dû faire quelque chose  -> I should have done something

j'aurais dû faire quelque chose -> I should have done something

Thanks!

Regarding the expression "sont servis", used in "Les plats froids sont servis avec une salade":

I don't understand this conjugation. Is this a reflexive form of the verb servir? Or is it just how menus are written?

Elle les (découper) - I think should be ‘Elles les découpes’ with a direct plural object, n’est-ce pas?

Qui fait les mots "à ce que" dans la phrase suivant: "Vous aurez pu le rejoindre d'ici à ce que je sorte du travail"?

Les livres desquels je pense sont remarquable. The books I am thinking of are remarkable; the preposition here is de.

In the following sentence why is him the word lui and not le?  I thought lui was usually used only with verbs that could be associated with à.  The example: “ “It’s necessary that I find him an original gift.”

according to another app I’m using the correct answer is: “ il faut que je lui trouve un cadeau original” and not “il faut que je le trouve un cadeau original”  I’m confused with this.