The subjunctive is a verb form that is used in certain circumstances to express some sort of feeling, or to show there is doubt about whether something will happen or whether something is true. It is only used occasionally in modern English, for example, If I were you, I wouldn’t bother.; So be it.
1 Using the subjunctive
- In French the subjunctive is used after certain verbs and conjunctions when two parts of a sentence have different subjects.
I’m afraid he won’t come back.
(The subject of the first part of the sentence is ‘I’; the subject of the second part of the sentence is ‘he’.) - Sometimes, in a sentence like We want her to be happy, you use the infinitive of the verb in English (to be). This is NOT possible in French when there is a different subject in the two parts of the sentence (we and her). You have to use a subjunctive for the second verb.
Nous voulons être heureux. We want to be happy.
(No change of subject, so you can just use an infinitive – être – in French.)
Nous voulons qu’elle soit heureuse. We want her to be happy.
(Subject changes from nous to elle, so you have to use a subjunctive – soit – in French.) - You can only use the infinitive instead of the subjunctive in French with impersonal verbs.
| Il faut que tu viennes à l’heure. (using subjunctive) | → | Il faut venir à l’heure. (using infinitive) |
| You have to come on time. | ||
| Il vaut mieux que tu restes chez toi. (using subjunctive) | → | Il vaut mieux rester chez toi. (using infinitive) |
| It’s better that you stay at home. | ||
2 Coming across the subjunctive
- The subjunctive has several tenses but you are only likely to come across the present subjunctive.
- You may see a subjunctive after certain verbs that you use when you are:
- wishing something: vouloir que and désirer que (meaning to wish that, to want), aimer que (meaning to like that), aimer mieux que and préférer que (meaning to prefer that)
- fearing something: avoir peur que (meaning to be afraid that)
- giving your opinion: croire que (meaning to think that)
- saying how you feel: regretter que (meaning to be sorry that), être content que (meaning to be pleased that), être surpris que (meaning to be surprised that) and so on
| Je suis content que vous les aimiez. | I’m pleased you like them. |
| J’ai peur qu’il ne revienne pas. | I’m afraid he won’t come back. |
- You may see a subjunctive after certain verbal expressions starting with il, such as il faut que (meaning it is necessary that) and il vaut mieux que (meaning it is better that).
| Il faut que je vous parle. | I need to speak to you. |
3 Forming the present subjunctive of -er verbs
- To form the stem of the present subjunctive you take the infinitive and chop off -er, just as for the present tense. Then you add the correct ending, depending on whether you are referring to je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils or elles.
- For -er verbs the endings are the same as for the ordinary present tense, apart from the nous and vous forms, which have an extra i, as in the imperfect tense.
| Pronoun | Ending | Add to stem, e.g. donn- | Meanings |
| je (j’) | -e | je donne | I give |
| tu | -es | tu donnes | you give |
| il elle on | -e | il donne elle donne on donne | he/she/it/one gives |
| nous | -ions | nous donnions | we give |
| vous | -iez | vous donniez | you give |
| ils elles | -ent | ils donnent elles donnent | they give |
Tipje changes to j’ in front of a word starting with a vowel, most words starting with h, and the French word y.
4 Forming the present subjunctive of -ir verbs
- To form the stem of the present subjunctive you take the infinitive and chop off -ir, just as for the present tense. Then you add the correct ending, depending on whether you are referring to to je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils or elles.
| Pronoun | Ending | Add to stem, e.g. fin- | Meanings |
| je (j’) | -isse | je finisse | I finish |
| tu | -isses | tu finisses | you finish |
| il elle on | -isse | il finisse elle finisse on finisse | he/she/it/one finishes |
| nous | -issions | nous finissions | we finish |
| vous | -issiez | vous finissiez | you finish |
| ils elles | -issent | ils finissent elles finissent | they finish |
Tipje changes to j’ in front of a word starting with a vowel, most words starting with h, and the French word y.
5 Forming the present subjunctive of -re verbs
- To form the stem of the present subjunctive you take the infinitive and chop off -re, just as for the present tense. Then you add the correct ending, depending on whether you are referring to je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils or elles.
| Pronoun | Ending | Add to stem, e.g. attend- | Meanings |
| je (j’) | -e | j’attende | I wait |
| tu | -es | tu attendes | you wait |
| il elle on | -e | il attende elle attende on attende | he/she/it/one waits |
| nous | -ions | nous attendions | we wait |
| vous | -iez | vous attendiez | you wait |
| ils elles | -ent | ils attendent elles attendent | they wait |
Tipje changes to j’ in front of a word starting with a vowel, most words starting with h, and the French word y.
6 Irregular verbs in the subjunctive
- Some important verbs have irregular subjunctive forms.
| Verb | Meaning | je (j’) | tu | il/elle/on | nous | vous | ils/elles |
| aller | to go | aille | ailles | aille | allions | alliez | aillent |
| avoir | to have | aie | aies | ait | ayons | ayez | aient |
| devoir | to have to, must | doive | doives | doive | devions | deviez | doivent |
| dire | to say, to tell | dise | dises | dise | disions | disiez | disent |
| être | to be | sois | sois | soit | soyons | soyez | soient |
| faire | to do, to make | fasse | fasses | fasse | fassions | fassiez | fassent |
| pouvoir | to be able to, can | puisse | puisses | puisse | puissions | puissiez | puissent |
| prendre | to take | prenne | prennes | prenne | prenions | preniez | prennent |
| (apprendre and comprendre also behave like this – j’apprenne, tu apprennes and so on) | |||||||
| savoir | to know | sache | saches | sache | sachions | sachiez | sachent |
| venir | to come | vienne | viennes | vienne | venions | veniez | viennent |
| vouloir | to want to | veuille | veuilles | veuille | voulions | vouliez | veuillent |
Key points
- After certain verbs you have to use a subjunctive in French when there is a different subject in the two clauses. These verbs mostly relate to wishing, fearing, and saying what you think, what you feel and that you are uncertain. A subjunctive is also found after certain verbal expressions that start with il.
- The stem of the present tense subjunctive is the same as the stem used for the ordinary present tense.
- The present tense subjunctive endings for -er and -re verbs are: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez and -ent.
- The present tense subjunctive endings for -ir verbs are: -isse, -isses, -isse, -issions, -issiez and -issent.