Subjonctif vs indicatif

The subjunctive is the piece of French grammar with the worst reputation, and most of that is misplaced. The forms are straightforward. The difficulty is deciding when it is required - and the honest answer is that you learn a list, not a feeling.

The forms are the easy part

For most verbs the subjunctive barely differs from the present:

Identical in four of six forms, and que nous parlions matches the imparfait. This is why the subjunctive is hard to hear - for regular verbs it mostly isn’t there.

Where it becomes audible is the irregulars, which are also the verbs you use most:

Je suis against que je sois; j’ai against que j’aie; je vais against que j’aille. Those are the forms worth drilling, because those are the ones a listener notices.

Learn the triggers, not the concept

Textbooks explain the subjunctive as the mood of doubt, emotion and subjectivity. That is true historically and unreliable in practice - espérer (to hope) is as subjective as a verb gets and takes the indicative.

What works is knowing which expressions demand it.

Always subjunctive

Necessity	il faut que, il est nécessaire que, il est important que
Will	vouloir que, souhaiter que, exiger que, préférer que
Emotion	être content que, avoir peur que, regretter que, être surpris que
Doubt	douter que, il est possible que, il semble que
Conjunctions	bien que, quoique, avant que, pour que, afin que, jusqu’à ce que, à moins que, sans que, pourvu que

Always indicative

Certainty	il est certain que, il est clair que, il paraît que
Assertion	dire que, savoir que, penser que, croire que, trouver que
Hope	espérer que
Probability	il est probable que
Time	après que, pendant que, depuis que, dès que

The verbs that flip

Penser, croire and trouver take the indicative when they assert something - and switch to the subjunctive when negated or turned into a question, because the assertion disappears:

Je pense qu’il vient. - indicative, I’m asserting it. Je ne pense pas qu’il vienne. - subjunctive, I’m not. Penses-tu qu’il vienne ? - subjunctive, I’m asking.

The same happens with il est certain que → il n’est pas certain que, and with être sûr que → ne pas être sûr que.

The traps

What to learn first

If you want the shortest useful path into the subjunctive:

1. Être and avoir in the subjunctive - they’re irregular, constant, and they build the subjonctif passé.
2. Il faut que - the highest-frequency trigger in the language.
3. Bien que and avant que - the two conjunctions you’ll meet everywhere.
4. Aller, faire, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir - the remaining irregulars.

That covers the great majority of subjunctive you will ever need to produce.

Common questions

Can I just avoid the subjunctive?

Up to a point. You can often rephrase with an infinitive - je veux partir instead of je veux que tu partes - but only when the subject doesn’t change. After il faut que and bien que there is no way round it, and both are extremely common.

Is the subjunctive dying out?

The présent and passé are not. What has died is the imparfait du subjonctif, which is now purely literary. Everyday spoken French uses il faut que je fasse and bien qu’il soit constantly.

Why does penser take the indicative but douter take the subjunctive?

Because penser asserts something and douter doesn’t. That’s the underlying logic - but it doesn’t predict reliably (espérer asserts nothing and still takes the indicative), so learn the lists rather than reasoning from meaning.

How do I even hear the difference?

Often you can’t. For regular -er verbs, que je parle and je parle are identical. The distinction is audible mainly on irregular verbs - sois, aie, aille, fasse, puisse - which is another reason those are the ones worth drilling.