The subjonctif présent

Mode

Subjonctif

Level

B2

Shape

Simple

Negation

ne … pas

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The subjonctif is the mood French uses when a clause is wanted, feared, doubted or required rather than stated as fact. It has a reputation for difficulty that is half deserved: the forms are regular and quickly learned, but knowing when it is obligatory takes longer.

The practical route in is to stop trying to feel it and learn the triggers instead. French speakers do not weigh subjectivity in the moment - they hear il faut que and the subjunctive follows automatically.

How it’s formed

Take the ils/elles form of the present tense, drop the -ent, and add:

-e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent

Ils parlent → parl- → que je parle. Ils finissent → finiss- → que je finisse. Ils vendent → vend- → que je vende.

The que is part of how the subjunctive appears - it lives in a subordinate clause, so it is almost always introduced by que. Note in the negative column that the que stays outside the negation: qu’il ne parte pas.

The irregular verbs

Seven verbs have their own subjunctive stems. They are the usual suspects, and they cover the vast majority of irregular subjunctive you will meet:

Verb	Subjunctive		Verb	Subjunctive
être	*que je sois*		pouvoir	*que je puisse*
avoir	*que j’aie*		savoir	*que je sache*
aller	*que j’aille*		vouloir	*que je veuille*
faire	*que je fasse*		falloir	*qu’il faille*

Être and avoir are the two to learn first - not only for their own sake, but because they are the auxiliaries the subjonctif passé is built from.

When to use it

The subjunctive appears after a trigger. The main families:

1. Necessity. Il faut que tu viennes. - You have to come.
2. Will and desire. Je veux qu’il parte. - I want him to leave. J’aimerais que tu restes.
3. Emotion. Je suis content que tu sois là. - I’m glad you’re here. J’ai peur qu’il soit malade.
4. Doubt and denial. Je doute qu’il vienne. - I doubt he’ll come. Je ne pense pas qu’il ait raison.
5. Certain conjunctions, which take it automatically: bien que, quoique, avant que, pour que, afin que, jusqu’à ce que, à moins que, sans que, pourvu que.

Note what is not on the list. Penser and croire take the indicative when affirmative - je pense qu’il vient - and flip to the subjunctive when negated or questioned: je ne pense pas qu’il vienne. Espérer takes the indicative even though hoping feels subjective, which is a good reminder that triggers beat intuition.

Common mistakes

Common questions

Does English have a subjunctive?

A vestigial one - “I insist that he be present”, “if I were you”. It survives in a handful of frozen phrases, which is why the French one feels alien: English speakers are used to it being optional, and in French it is not.

Is there a shortcut for knowing when to use it?

Learn the triggers rather than the concept. The subjunctive is required after specific expressions - il faut que, vouloir que, bien que, avant que, pour que and a few dozen more. If the trigger is there, use it; if not, don’t. Trying to reason from “doubt” or “subjectivity” produces more errors than memorising the list.

Why do nous and vous look like the imparfait?

Because they are formed from the nous stem rather than the ils stem, which is the same stem the imparfait uses. For most verbs que nous parlions and nous parlions are identical - context tells them apart.

Are there other subjunctive tenses?

Two more - the imparfait du subjonctif and the plus-que-parfait du subjonctif - but they are literary and essentially never used in speech. Modern French manages with the présent and the passé, which is why Phonique teaches those two.