B1 · The subjunctive
Subjunctive: the forms
«that he be» is the one English survivor — and it is the whole idea.
At a glance
- Remember
- It is «that he be», made regular and made compulsory.
- Form
- que je parlethat I speak
- Signal words
- que je
- qu’il
- aille
- fasse
- puisse
- Trap
- Wrong:Je veux qu’il vene avec nous.Right:Je veux qu’il vienne avec nous.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending ending for tense and person
| that I speak | que je parle |
| that you speak | que tu parles |
| that he speak | qu’il parle |
| that we speak | que nous parlions |
| that you speak (plural, polite) | que vous parliez |
| that they speak | qu’ils parlent |
| that I be | que je sois |
| that you be | que tu sois |
| that he be | qu’il soit |
| that we be | que nous soyons |
| that you be (plural, polite) | que vous soyez |
| that they be | qu’ils soient |
| that I have | que j’aie |
| that you have | que tu aies |
| that he have | qu’il ait |
| that we have | que nous ayons |
| that you have (plural, polite) | que vous ayez |
| that they have | qu’ils aient |
| that I go | que j’aille |
| that you go | que tu ailles |
| that he go | qu’il aille |
| that we go | que nous allions |
| that you go (plural, polite) | que vous alliez |
| that they go | qu’ils aillent |
| that I do | que je fasse |
| that you do | que tu fasses |
| that he do | qu’il fasse |
| that we do | que nous fassions |
| that you do (plural, polite) | que vous fassiez |
| that they do | qu’ils fassent |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The stem comes from the third person plural of the present.
Ils finissent, donc que je finisse.They finish, so: that I finish.
nous and vous take the imparfait endings.
Il faut que nous partions tôt.We have to leave early.
Seven common verbs have a stem of their own.
Il faut que tu sois patient.You have to be patient.
The subjunctive almost always follows que.
Je veux qu’il vienne avec nous.I want him to come with us.
Example sentences
Il faut que je parte maintenant.I have to leave now.
Je veux que tu saches la vérité.I want you to know the truth.
Il est possible qu’elle ait raison.It is possible that she is right.
Nous voulons qu’ils puissent choisir.We want them to be able to choose.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The stem comes from the ils form, not from the infinitive. So venir gives ils viennent and therefore que je vienne, not que je vene. English offers no help at all here, because its own subjunctive is simply the bare infinitive — «that he go», «that he come» — with no stem change anywhere. Pull the French stem out of the infinitive and every verb with a vowel change comes out wrong.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Take the ils form of the present, remove -ent and add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent: ils parlent gives que je parle. The nous and vous forms come from the imparfait: que nous parlions, que vous parliez.
English has one construction worth holding on to here. «I insist that he *be* present», «it is essential that she *arrive* on time» — the bare verb with no -s, after «that», following a verb of will. That is a subjunctive, it is the same slot as the French one, and it is triggered by the same kind of verb. Everything on this page is that construction, made regular and made compulsory.
With -er verbs four of the six forms sound exactly like the present. That is why the subjunctive is so rarely noticed — it is there far more often than it is audible, and «que je parle» sounds like «je parle».
Seven verbs have stems of their own: être → sois, avoir → aie, aller → aille, faire → fasse, pouvoir → puisse, savoir → sache, vouloir → veuille. Seven forms, and they cover most of what you will actually say.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: falloir · vouloir · être · partir · finir · avoir · pouvoir · venir